22 Jul 2012

Knights overcome 18-point deficit to beat Warriors

9:01 am on 22 July 2012

The Newcastle Knights came back from an early 18-point deficit to beat the New Zealand Warriors 24-19 in their National Rugby League clash in Auckland last night.

Having hauled back the deficit to be 19-12 down at halftime, the Knights put Akuila Uate over the line just after the break but, under no pressure, he dropped the ball as he was putting it down.

Instead of letting their heads drop, the Knights scored within five minutes after a 40m Uate run gave them momentum from which Timana Tahu scored and, from then, the roll of the game was with the visitors.

The victory puts Newcastle level with the Warriors in ninth place and keeps their NRL playoff hopes alive.

The Warriors coach Brian McClennan says it is a hard loss to explain, but says the team lost its way when Ben Matulino, Feleti Mateo and Russell Packer went to the interchange bench, and they also suffered when they had less possession.