THE Dragons’ finals hopes look to be in the dreaded “mathematical possibility” category after going down 25-12 to Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
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For the third straight week the Dragons gave a leg-up to a rival that went into the match below them on the ladder surrendering 10th spot to the Tigers and slipping to 11th ahead of their Friday night clash with the Bulldogs this week.
Matches against Brisbane and the ladder-leading Sharks will follow in a tough month that could leave the Dragons playing for pride over the closing rounds of the competition.
Perhaps feeling the pressure of their past two poor performances, the Dragons showed plenty of intent early on and got off to the best possible start when Kurt Mann crossed in just the fifth minute.
Gareth Widdop’s sideline conversion and follow-up penalty goal gave the hosts an 8-0 lead after 10 minutes but it was all the Tigers from there in the opening stanza.
A dropped ball from Tariq Sims opened the door for David Nofoaluma’s 15th-minute four-pointer to cut the lead to 8-4. The lead was cut to just two by a Jordan Rankin penalty goal after Tigers prop Tim Grant was stretchered off after a high tackle from Leeson Ah Mau 16 minutes before the break.
Luke Brooks strolled across untouched minutes later before Nofoaluma broke through some paper-thin Dragons defence to put Tedesco over under the posts for an 18-8 lead 10 minutes before the interval.
The Dragons built a mountain of pressure with the football after the break but had only a disallowed try (obstruction) to show for it midway through the half.
A Mitch Moses 40-20 turned the tide back the Tigers way with Josh Aloiai scoring from the ensuing set with a Rankin penalty goal five minutes later giving the Tigers a 24-8 lead with 15 minutes to play. Adam Quinlan gave the Dragons a hope with a try in the 67th minute but it came too late to affect the result with Moses’s 77th minute field-goal sealing the win for the Tigers.