NYC Knights edge Roosters

The NYC Knights have secured a great win on the road, defeating the Sydney Roosters 28-22 in perfect conditions at Allianz Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The opening exchanges of the match were a real arm wrestle, with penalties and errors handing both sides decent field position. The Roosters went close to scoring early, but prop Brandon Tago was unable to hold the ball on the line.

The Knights had several repeat sets deep in the Roosters’ half, and were finally rewarded when Dale Clacherty crossed out wide after 10 minutes.

Tempers flared in the 26th minute, when a shot on Tago sparked a brawl, with both sides coming to blows. Korbin Sims and Dylan Napa were at the centre of it all, and the Knights were reduced to 12 with Sims sent to the sin bin.

Some desperate defence from the Knights stopped a near-certain try minutes later, with the Roosters’ right edge combining to make plenty of metres. But the momentum was certainly with the home side, who crossed through Rhyse Martin just a few plays later. Paul Rokolati converted to give the Tricolours a 6-4 lead.

The Roosters made the most of their one man advantage, with Martin scoring his second just minutes later. The second rower did well to climb high and claim a well-weighted cross-field kick to extend his side’s lead.

But two tries to Lachlan Shipard put the visitors back in front late in the first half, with the winger converting to give the Knights a 16-12 advantage at the break.

The away side carried that shift in momentum into the second stanza as Adam Clydesdale darted from dummy half to sneak in under the posts.

It was all Newcastle as the second half progressed, as James Elias got his side further in front.

But the Roosters didn’t give up, and two quick tries to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Curtis Rona had the Tricolours down by only 6 with as many minutes remaining.

But it was too little too late for the home side, with the Knights securing another win against quality opposition 28-22 in a see-sawing encounter.