Western Suburbs Magpies have scored the most remarkable of tries after the siren to steal a 16-12 win over the Newcastle Knights in their Round 14 Canterbury Cup clash today.
With the siren expiring as Oliver Clark managed a quick play-the-ball, Wests swung the ball from side-to-side on several occasions, before a towering cross-field kick from Tyson Gamble drawing an error from the Knights as Kane Bradley somehow planted the ball down before the dead ball line to steal the win.
The win moves Western Suburbs back on to the edge of the top four ahead of next week's clash against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Campbelltown Stadium.
Off the back of a tight loss last week to Mounties, Brett Hodgson's side came out firing this week with first points in the opening five minutes but again struggled to find their rhythm and consistency with errors letting the Knights back in the contest.
On debut, it was Madden who had the first major involvement for his side with a lovely cross-field kick finding Kane Bradley, who tapped back for Paul Momirovski to open the scoring after just three minutes. Madden pushed his conversion attempt in the difficult conditions to leave the Magpies' lead at just four points.
Poor handling from Western Suburbs would gift the visitors a chance to hit back, and they soon took the lead as Kiah Cooper stepped through from the scrum.
Lino would kick truly to put the Knights in front, before adding a penalty goal just before the break to give the visitors a surprising 8-4 lead at the break.
Having given up six errors and two penalties in the first half, Hodgson's side needed to improve in the second and they began the half in near identical to the first as both halves combined to send Momirovski over for his second try of the game.
Madden's strong sideline conversion in the rain put Wests back in front by two, but the lead would be short-lived as another Lino penalty goal erased the deficit.
Lino's third penalty goal of the afternoon with 10 minutes remaining put Newcastle back in front by two points, before a late surge from Western Suburbs gave them three consecutive sets of attack on the Newcastle line to try and win the game, with Bradley's effort after the buzzer securing the two points for the Magpies.Â
Western Suburbs Magpies 16 (Momivorski 2, Bradley tries; Madden 2/3 goals) def. Newcastle Knights 12 (Cooper tries; Lino 4/4 goals)
