13 Apr 2009

Warriors go down to Newcastle in controversial finish

11:45 am on 13 April 2009

The Warriors narrowly lost to Newcastle in a controversial finish to their National Rugby League match in Newcastle on Sunday.

Trailing 24-12 with just over 10 minutes to go the Warriors prop Russell Packer mounted a comeback striding through some ordinary Knights defence to score but Denan Kemp missed a relatively straightforward conversion.

Moments later Kemp was held back by Ryan Gidley in a race to the ball that could have seen the Warriors close to within in two.

Patrick Ah Van then scored for the Warriors with Kemp converting to make the score 24-22 with five minutes to play and that's the way it remained.

The Warriors sit ninth on the NRL ladder with two wins and three losses.

In other matches St George Illawarra beat Parramatta 22-8, Brisbane beat the Sydney Roosters 28-24, Canberra beat Cronulla 24-14, Melbourne beat Penrith 16-14, Gold Coast beat Queensland 14-10 and defending champions Manly had their first of the season beating Wests Tigers 23-10.