St George Illawarra's finals dream is alive thanks to a gutsy win over embattled Newcastle in front of 10,000 Dragons faithful at Kogarah on Sunday.
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The Knights, who this week sacked coach Rick Stone and are fighting to avoid the wooden spoon, gave the Red V a fright when they fought back from an early 12-0 deficit to lead at half time.
But the home team put on a second-half clinic to win 46-24 and ensure their chances of a top-eight berth remain in play.
The Dragons still need to win three of their remaining five games to reach the magical 28 competition points and ensure a spot in finals.
They face Warriors, Brisbane, Penrith, Gold Coast and Wests Tigers to round out the season proper.
Interim Newcastle coach Danny Buderus was given a harsh welcome to the job when his troops spilled the ball on the second play of the game, handing St George Illawarra possession on their 30m line.
Benji Marshall kicked high at the end of the set for Josh Dugan to take an AFL-like overhead mark over the pack and put the ball down for a try.
The Dragons were in again just five minutes later when Joel Thompson broke into space to ultimately set Mitch Rein up for a four-pointer.
Rein pounced on the loose ball in-goal after Jake Mamo batted down the Thompson offload, and the Red V led 12-0 after just 10 minutes.
When the Knights finally made it down their attacking end of the ground, Leeson Ah Mau was placed on report for a high shot on Kade Snowden and the latter failed to return to the game.
In the ensuing set Knights skipper Kurt Gidley breezed through some flimsy defence to score the visitors' first points and take the score to 12-6.
Newcastle drew level when hooker Adam Clydesdale barrelled over and eventually planted the ball down, bringing the scoreboard to 12-12 midway through the first half.
Gareth Widdop pulled off a magnificent cover tackle when opposite number Carlos Tuimavave made a break and looked certain to score in the 22nd minute.
Widdop's efforts were in vain, though, as Newcastle spread the ball to Jake Mamo and scored on the other side of the field on the ensuing play to hit the lead.
The Knights extended their lead to 20-12 when Nathan Ross scored in the corner soon after.
The Dragons finally got a roll on and earned a penalty in front of the sticks on the stroke of half time, getting them within a converted try at the break.
Newcastle started the second half as they started the first, with a schoolboy error that would have had Buderus scratching his head.
The Knights dropped the ball off a scrum feed less than 10 metres out from their defensive line, and the Dragons scored two plays later when Widdop slid through some soft defence.
The five-eighth converted his own try and the scoreboard was level at 20-20.
Benji Marshall made a break in the following set and earned the Dragons a penalty deep in their attacking half, allowing Widdop to slot the conversion and the home team regained the lead 22-20.
The Red had all the momentum and front rower Leeson Ah Mau set the Kogarah crowd alight when he broke through and ran more than 20 metres before being brought down.
Gareth Widdop then produced a deft pass onto the chest of a flying Tyson Frizell who slid over to score, and the Dragons led 28-20.
Five minutes later Newcastle flyer Tyler Randell scooped up a loose ball and sprinted 40 metres to score, evading a soft tackle attempt from Josh Dugan in the process.
Tyrone Roberts missed the conversion and the score was 28-24 in favour ot the Dragons.
Jake Mamo almost pulled off a miracle try in the corner to level the scores again but the video referee ruled the young Knights winger had spilled the ball.
Marshall then produced something only Benji Marshall could, when he scored the winner in the 65th minute on the back of a confusing series of passes.
Instrumented by Marshall himself, he found space on the sideline and dummied inside, passed to Widdop, who handed it to Mitch Rein, who threw a desperate pass back inside for the halfback to collect and score.
Widdop converted to take the lead to 34-24.
For good measure, Will Matthews and then Josh Dugan scored late to put the icing on the cake.