The Dragons dropped their first game of the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup season 28-24 to the Bears at a slippery Jubilee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
A first-half Sione Finau double earnt the Red V an early, double-digit lead but Norths fought back in difficult conditions to steal the competition points.
Match: Dragons v Bears
Round 4 -
home Team
Dragons
4th Position
away Team
Bears
11th Position
Venue: Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
The Dragons got off to a dream start with teenage middles Loko Pasifiki Tonga and Finau Latu earning their side some early ascension.
A late set restart gifted the hosts a golden opportunity with Nathan Lawson diving over to finish off a left-side shift which stripped Norths for numbers as Cody Ramsey threw the final pass.
Lawson found himself in the thick of things again moments later with the Rugby Sevens convert showing off a beautiful set of hands to send birthday boy Finau over in the left corner.
The chance was created off the back of a rattling Pasifiki Tonga and Connor Muhleisen tackle which forced a Norths error much to the satisfaction of their Dragons teammates.
Jonah Glover nailed the conversion from the left touchline to give his side a double-digit edge.
The Bears took advantage of a Dragons error to hit back soon after through Matthew Komolafe who scurried over in the left corner off a Jonah Pezet cut-out.
The Lawson-Finau duo again came up trumps a little over a quarter of the way in with the former again showcasing a nice pair of hands to put his winger over in the left corner and grow the lead back out to 14-4.
The Bears managed a response shortly through Compton Fuatimau who surged through a hole off a deft Harradyn Wilson ball.
The visitors took advantage of a wave of pressure late in the half to cross via a determined Sean Vaivelata effort and take a two-point lead into the sheds.
Muhleisen went within inches of wrestling the lead back the way of the Red V on multiple occasions early in the second, but the Bears defence held strong.
They found a try soon after however through Hayden Buchanan who muscled his way over after Corey Allan found a bit of space down the right edge and moved the ball on.
The Bears tied things up courtesy of a Wilson penalty goal before Ben Talty crashed over next to the sticks to wrestle the lead back the way of the visitors.
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Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Highlights: Round 4 v Bears
A nice piece of Lyhkan King-Togia playmaking sent Raymond Faitala-Mariner sliding over untouched down the right-hand corridor with Glover adding the extras to tie things at 24-apiece.
The seesawing nature of the affair continued with Komolafe finding his second off a fifth-tackle, left-side shift to make it 28-24 with 13 minutes to play.
Jacob Halangahu left the field for a HIA moments later which ended his afternoon.
Finau went flying down the left flank with less than four minutes on the clock and sent a grubber back inside for a chasing King-Togia, but it was who Komolafe dove on the ball as the Dragons’ fightback fell short.
