The Roy Masters Cup will remain with the Dragons after Ben Woolf’s men came away with a 24-18 win over the Magpies at Lidcombe Oval on Saturday.
NSW Cup Rd 6 Highlights: Magpies vs Dragons
Masters, who made 250 first grade appearances across stints at the Magpies and Dragons in the 1970s and 1980s, was on hand to watch the Red V hold on for a crucial victory.
Up a dozen with less than 10 minutes to play, the visitors overcame a late Magpies surge to secure a gutsy win – their third of the new season.
Match: Magpies v Dragons
Round 6 -
home Team
Magpies
11th Position
away Team
Dragons
5th Position
Venue: Lidcombe Oval, Sydney
The Dragons drew first blood through second rower Dylan Egan who poured through a hole off some sharp playmaking courtesy of halfback Jonah Glover for his second try of 2024.
Glover’s conversion was waved away as the scoreboard remained 4-0 the way of the visitors.
The No.7 shot through the line and into the backfield the following set only for the play to be pulled back for an obstruction penalty.
The Magpies responded off the back of it through lock Bailey Hodges who took in an offload to dive over under the sticks and give the hosts a 6-4 lead.
An enterprising play sparked by Christian Tuipulotu sent the Dragons back into desirable field position, but an ill-timed error put a halt to the raid a quarter of the way in.
A Connor Muhleisen grubber earnt the Dragons a repeat set with Mathew Feagai proving the beneficiary sweeping around on a left side shift and slamming the ball down to swing the scoreboard back the way of the visitors.
The very next set, the Dragons nabbed another with a Mathew Feagai cut-out sending Tuipulotu into space before Josh Ralph stepped his way to the line to finish it off.
Glover held off the wind to slot his first conversion of the afternoon and improve the advantage beyond a converted try.
A forward pass call prevented Savelio Tamale from diving over for the side’s fourth a half hour in before a Tuipulotu clean-up effort stopped a Magpies try as the halftime score remained 14-6.
The Dragons grew their lead to a dozen 14 minutes into the second half through Savelio Tamale who took in a Mathew Feagai cut-out and contended with the touchline to dive over.
The hosts hit back through hooker James Valevatu who burrowed his way over out of dummy half to make it a one score game with a quarter of the match to go.
A Tuipulotu break put the Dragons back on the front foot with former Wests Tiger Tom Freebairn powering his way over off the back of it to give the visitors a 12-point buffer entering the final 10.
The hosts refused to go away however with centre Josh Feledy bumping his way over in the left corner to cut the deficit to a half dozen entering the final stages.
A penalty sent the Magpies straight back on the attack, but a strong defensive stand finished off by a Mathew Feagai kick defusal kept the visitors ahead.
Feagai again came up with a big play in-goal to prevent a Magpies try in the final minute which proved enough as the Dragons overcame a late sin bin to hold on for the win.
