Warriors 26
Knights 20
A 95m try from winger Patrick Ah Van sealed a 26-20 win for the New Zealand Warriors over the Newcastle Knights in their NRL match in Auckland yesterday.
Ah Van latched on to a crossfield kick while Newcastle was hot on attack with 15min remaining and outsprinted the defence. Michael Witt's conversion gave his team a 10-point lead.
It gave the Warriors enough buffer to hold out a late Newcastle charge, though it needed a Logan Swann intercept with 20sec to go to ensure the Warriors were not forced to golden point extra time.
Coach Ivan Cleary said it was disappointing that Newcastle were able to make a match of it after his team led 14-0.
‘‘We definitely let them back in, though not through lack of effort,'' he said.
‘‘I was really happy with the effort today but on the other hand, we've got a hell of a lot to work on. I'm just happy with the two points today.''
Knights coach Brian Smith said the early penalty count, which at one stage was 7-1 in the Warriors' favour, was tough for his team to deal with.
‘‘Any team that gives away a string of penalties finishes up in trouble. In fact, I thought our boys did tremendous in that at half-time we were down 14-12 after the avalanche of possession that the opposition did have,'' he said.
Knights captain Danny Buderus, who played much of the match with a knee injury, agreed the Ah Van try was crucial.
‘‘Things change so quickly and that could have been us in the winning dressing shed.''
Michael Witt was on target for the Warriors with a penalty 8min into the match, and new centre Ryan Shortland scored twice within 3min, the first after quick passing gave him an overlap on the left side and then diving on a clever grubber kick from Nathan Fien. Two sideline conversions from Witt made the score 14-0.
Newcastle scored in the 32nd minute, after a grubber kick hit the upright, and Warriors fullback Lance Hohaia's speculative kick went directly across the field in the in-goal area, where a grateful Wes Naiqama fell on the ball.
Six minutes later the Knights were in again, after winning field position from a penalty. Bench forward Cory Paterson latched on to a Scott Dureau pass and went straight past Grant Rovelli to score near the posts. Kurt Gidley's conversion made the half-time score 14-12.
The Warriors went eight points clear soon after halftime when prop Evarn Tuimavave ran on to a Grant Rovelli inside ball and stretched out to score.
Newcastle was back within a try after 19min of the half, when wing James McManus was put in space and crashed over.
Gidley's missed conversion meant the Warriors were four points ahead, and Ah Van's try broke the heart of a Knights side poised to strike.
After being denied a metre short of the Warriors line, halfback Dureau's cross-field kick on the fifth tackle went straight into the arms of the Warriors right winger, who accelerated away from any chasers. Witt's conversion made the score 26-16.
Witt missed a 40m penalty shortly afterwards but Newcastle got back into the game when Naiqama scored off a Gidley break. A scrum 30m out gave the Knights a last chance but staunch defence and Swann's final intercept ensured the game was safe for the Warriors.
