Fiji Bati winger Mikaele Ravalawa scored the winning try for the Saint George Illawarra Dragons to beat Apisai Koroisau’s Wests Tigers 18-14 in Round 21 of the NRL at WIN Stadium in Wollongong on Thursday.
The Tigers made a quick start to the match through Junior Tupou as he disposed of Tyrell Sloan to score wide out.
The Dragons hit back in the 17th minute when Talatau Amone delivered a sweetly timed flick pass for Sloan to score and Zac Lomax converted to give the home side a 6-4 lead.
Six minutes later, Dragons got their second converted try from Lomax but soon after the side was reduced to 12 men when Sloan was sin-binned for holding Daine Laurie down too long in a tackle inside the red zone proved crucial as the Tigers scored immediately through Tupou.
The Tigers took advantage of the extra man again on the stroke of half time when Laurie put Tupou away down the left wing and when he was confronted by the Dragons’ defence he kicked back inside for Koroisau to score.
Fly-half Brandon Wakeham converted for a 14-12 lead in favor of the Tigers.
Lomax showed great strength to break free of a couple of defenders before getting a trademark flick pass away for Ravalawa to score.
Lomax booted the conversion to seal the win.
