NYC Newcastle Knights coach Todd Lowrie had a smile from ear to ear after his side put away top four side the St George Illawara Dragons to reclaim a spot in the top eight.
Lowrie admits it was a nail-biter until the end which saw the Knights Under 20s side take the lead in the final eight minutes of the match.
“We toughed it out against a good team and we did things well to win,” explained Lowrie.
“We didn’t just jag a lucky win, we played pretty well against a good team who also played well so it was certainly a good feeling.”
Behind for most of the game, the NYC coach praised his players for a hard-fought result.
“Against one of the best teams in the competition to still be in with a chance with not too far to go in the game was good,” stated Lowrie.
“It was a good place to be but then to take that next step, lead and come out with the victory is credit to the guys and how they played.”
Lowrie noted there were several standouts that helped take their game to the next level.
“We had some guys that did really well, I thought Cameron King went well up front for us and he certainly led the way,” he said.
“Young Luke Huth had his first game for us and I thought he played well.
“He played a lot longer than we thought he was going to play so he did really well and contributed some good things.
“It was good to see the guys play well and get back into the winner’s circle.”
The Under 20s coach admits a solid week of training played a part in their comeback victory.
“It is no secret that if you train well during the week, you come out and perform a bit better,” added Lowrie.
“That was the key thing for us; we went well at training during the week and we came out and played accordingly and did enough to get the win.”
NYC now prepare for their clash against the last-placed New Zealand Warriors on Saturday.
