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Holy Leka! Warriors steal win at death

  • NZ Sports Wire
  • Jul 21
  • 2 min read

Updated: Jul 22

Leka Halasima NZ Warriors
Demitric Vaimauga (right) scored one of the NZ Warriors’ three tries in the victory at Newcastle. PHOTO: NZ WARRIORS

The NZ Warriors have unfathomably escaped Newcastle with two points after a stunning finish.


Second-rower Leka Halasima scored a sensational solo try after the 80 minutes had ticked away as the Warriors stole a 20-15 win from the Knights in Round 20 of the NRL at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.


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In a frenetic final 10 minutes, Warriors halfback Tanah Boyd missed go-ahead field goal and penalty attempts and later had a pair of two-point field goal tries charged down.


Jack Cogger gave Newcastle a 15-14 lead in the 75th minute with a successful field goal, before Boyd had an attempt blocked by Jackson Hastings three minutes later. After the Warriors challenged the play and were awarded a penalty as Hastings was ruled to not be square at the play-the-ball.


Boyd missed but had another chance when the Warriors got the ball back. Again it was charged down, but fell to Halasima 45m out, who slipped between Knights players, charged downfield, stepped the fullback and went over in the tackle attempts of three players.



Earlier, the Warriors opened the scoring in the eighth minute when centre Adam Pompey ran onto a Boyd kick. But they found themselves down 12-6 at halftime after Newcastle answered with three tries in 10 minutes.


Demitric Vaimauga crossed in the 49th minute as the Warriors levelled things up, before Dane Gagai and Boyd traded penalty goals.


The win further cemented the Warriors place in the top-four. Just two points outside the top-two, the Warriors are four points clear of the Brisbane Broncos with seven rounds remaining.


The Warriors will look to make it three straight wins since their third and final bye week when they host the Gold Coast Titans at Go Media Stadium Mt Smart on Saturday (kick-off 5pm).


NZ Warriors 20 (Adam Pompey, Demitric Vaimauga, Leka Halasima tries; Tanah Boyd 3 con, pen) Newcastle Knights 15 (Fletcher Hunt, Dane Gagai, Greg Marzhew tries; Dane Gagai con, Jack Cogger field goal). HT: 6-12

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