Facing all manner of adversity, the One New Zealand Warriors showed plenty of resolve to eke out a 24-16 win over the Balmain Tigers in their round six SG Ball Cup (under-19) contest at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney on Sunday.
It was only their second win in five starts but one in which the Warriors showed their ability to face and overcome hardship.
Their confidence dented by a devastating 4-50 loss to the Bulldogs last week, the Warriors were also hampered by more injuries to key players during the week.
Despite that they started brightly with two beautifully taken tries to classy fullback Joseph Ratcliffe as he carved through Balmain’s left edge defensive line.
But they then lost momentum allowing the Tigers to come back into the contest to lead 10-8 at the break and 16-8 early in the second half.
Match: Tigers v Warriors
Round 6 -
home Team
Tigers
away Team
Warriors
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Chasing a way back the Warriors mounted numerous assaults on Balmain’s line only to be frustrated by a mixture of their own errors and the Tigers’ goal-line defence.
At last a breakthrough came when Tyson Hansen’s wide pass to Junior Pua opened a path for the right winger to score.
With the conversion the Warriors were 14-16 down with 16 minutes to play and four minutes later they were back in front 18-16 after Lennox Tuiloma bustled over from dummy half.
The lead was precarious, though, as Balmain pressed for a winner in the final minutes.
With eight minutes to play the heat went up a few notches when Warriors were reduced to 12 players for the rest of the game after Pua was sent to the sin bin.
The Tigers had every chance against the undermanned Warriors but when they knocked on 40 metres out from their own line, the visitors put the game to bed.
Halfback Hinckley Ioka bombed, impressive centre Connor Bowden rising to claim the ball, wrestle his way free and score with defenders on him. Wiremu Makea added the conversion for an eight-point win.
It lifted the Warriors to ninth on the ladder on six points going into their round seven match against the Eels in Sydney next Saturday.
