Report: NSW Cup Round 9 vs Dragons

After rocketing out to an early lead, the Red V proved too strong for the home side at Lidcombe Oval.

The wing pairing of Ben Rumble and Sione Finau both scored tries for St. George Illawarra in the opening ten minutes of the match, before the Magpies posted their first points.

Max Liles produced a trademark try in the 18th minute, as he cut back on the inside to score Wests’ only four-pointer of the first half.

The Dragons produced a flurry of points later in the second half, though, with Cody Ramsey scoring a double, Rumble grabbing his second, Nick Tsougranis, and Lachy Ilias all crossing.

With the visitors leading 40-6 at the break, Magpies winger Izaac Tu’itupou scored in the corner off the back of an Elie El-Zakhem offload, before the Dragons hit back. Ilias and Raymond Faitala-Mariner both grabbed second-half tries to extend the Red V lead.

In a positive for Wests on a tough afternoon, Krystian Mapapalangi scored his first try in Magpies colours, leaping to catch a Kurt Falls cross-field bomb.

Falls went from provider to scorer just three minutes later, as the halfback capitalised on a Tristan Hope grubber kick to score a quality Magpies try.

After Haele Finau and Rumble scored late tries for the Dragons, Justin Matamua’s kick and chase allowed interchange forward Luke Jack to score the final points of the afternoon.

Dragons 60 (Rumble 3, Ramsey 2, Ilias 2, S. Finau, Tsougranis, Faitala-Mariner, H. Finau tries; Glover 8/11 goals) defeated Magpies 26 (Liles, Tu'itupou, Mapapalangi, Falls, Jack tries; Falls 3/5 goals) at Lidcombe Oval.