NRL Round 20 recap
Round 20 of the 2010 National Rugby League season was an exciting one, as the 16 teams battled it out. The Titans put together a surprising upset over the Dragons, while the Rooster stunned the Broncos in the Monday night match-up.
Eels 32 Bulldogs 16
Jarryde Hayne wasted no time opening the scoring for the Eels with a try in the first minute. From then on the first half belonged to the Parramatta side as Hayne added another try in the 10th minute, and then Krisnan Inu added two more of his own. Luke Burt began an impressive day by converting four of his five opportunities on converts. The Eels took a 28-4 lead into half.
The deficit proved to be too much for the Bulldogs, who even after two unanswered tries, still could not generate enough offense.
Titans 11 Dragons 10
An Anthony Laffranchi try followed by a Scott Prince conversion opened the scoring for the Titans. The Dragons would eventually tie the match with a Ben Creagh try in the 23rd minute. Jamie Soward then hit a penalty 3 minutes later to give the Dragons the 10-6 lead at half.
Both teams struggled to generate any offense until Kevin Gordon scored for the Titans in the 53rd minute. However, a missed conversion meant that the game remained tied at 10. The Final minutes were incredibly nerve racking as Mat Rogers finally broke the deadlock in the 90th minute with a field goal to give the Titans upset victory.
Raiders 20 Sharks 13
The Sharks opened the scoring with a Ben Pomeroy try in the seventh minute, and the score board remained stagnant until Travis Waddell tied the game up in the 36th. Trent Barrett would add a field goal for the Sharks to give them a 7-6 lead going into the half.
After the break the Raiders came out strong as Daniel Vidot scored two tries in a row, and Jarod Croker hit both his conversions to give the Raiders the lead. The early second half outburst proved to be too much as the Sharks could only watch as the time ran down on a Raiders victory.
Storm 18 Panthers 10
Dane Nielsen opened the scoring for the Storm in the 21st minute and Cameron Smith hit the conversion to give the Melbourne side a 7-6 lead at half time.
The second half was more of the same as the second place Panthers could not seem to get it going. Justin O’Neill and Matthew Duffie scored tries for the storm, helping them on to an unexpected victory.
Cowboys 28 Knights 24
The Cowboys opened the scoring and continued their dominant play all the way through the halftime whistle, as Willie Tonga scored in the 59th minute giving them a 20-12 lead.
The Knights battled back late with tries from Akuila Uate, and Cooper Vuna in the 73rd and 79th minutes respectively. However a Will Topou try in the 82nd capped off the victory for the home side.
Rabbitohs 38 Warriors 28
The Warriors burst out of the gate to take a 20-10 lead into halftime, scoring four tries. Nevertheless, the Sydney-siders seemed to find their form in the second half scoring five tries and five conversions.
The second half outburst is all the Rabbitohs would need to end the Warriors winning streak and take home their first win in three weeks.
Sea Eagles 38 Wests Tigers 20
The Sea Eagles used the energy of the home town fans to record four tries before the end of half giving them a 24-12 lead.
They continued to push scoring another two after the break, and registering a win as the Tigers had no answers.
The match centred around Jamie Lyon who scored 19 points on his own, nailing six conversions, a try and a penalty for the Sea Eagles.
Roosters 34 Broncos 30
The Roosters' Shaun Kenny-Dowall put on a clinic Monday night in Brisbane, scoring two tries before half. Kenny-Dowall came back from half just as strong recording another two tries for the Sydney squad.
Nick Kenny notched one late for the Broncos but the Roosters scored in the 74th minute to steal the win from the home side.
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