League: Warriors hold off Broncos

Manu Vatuvei of the Warriors beats the tackle of the Broncos' Todd Lowrie. (Photo by Simon Watts...
Manu Vatuvei of the Warriors beats the tackle of the Broncos' Todd Lowrie. (Photo by Simon Watts/Getty Images)
The Warriors saw off a determined Broncos side to claim a hard-fought 19-10 win at Mt Smart Stadium tonight.

Converted tries to Ben Henry and Konrad Hurrell and a Shaun Johnson field goal gave the home side a 13-6 halftime lead, before a third four-pointer to Chad Townsend pushed them clear 15 minutes from time.

The visitors suffered a blow when Queensland State of Origin forward Matt Gillett was forced from the field with a shoulder injury after 12 minutes, but they went on to enjoy the better of play throughout the first 40.

Contrasting the Broncos energetic start, the Warriors' attack lacked spark and precision while an erratic kicking game and unforced errors further hindered their efforts.

Poor handling saw Warriors winger David Fusitua knock-on a bouncing ball when a try was on offer in the 11th minute, and a second fumble soon after from the 19-year-old handed possession back to the visitors inside the Warriors 20m zone.

Two tackles later, Brisbane hooker Jake Granvile caught the defence napping when he ran from dummy half and wrestled his way through to plant the ball down for the first try.

The Broncos continued to apply pressure but the Warriors defence clung on before replacement forward Feleti Mateo arrived to spark their lacklustre attack.

The ball-playing back-rower put on a sweet pass for fellow replacement Henry, who roared through a yawning gap near halfway before dummying his way past Broncos fullback Ben Barba, to race in and score the Warriors' first points 12 minutes from halftime.

Improved kicking from Johnson and Townsend, and mistakes from the Broncos saw possession swing, and the Warriors enjoyed four more attacking sets before Hurrell barged through for their second four-pointer in the 37th minute. Johnson again added the extras, before producing a booming 41m field goal to extend the Warriors' advantage right on halftime.

The first five minutes after halftime saw two Warriors placed on report, with prop Suaia Matagi earning a reprimand for a strong challenge on Broncos five-eighths Josh Hoffman and winger Ngani Laumape was involved in an ugly lifting tackle on Josh McGuire.

Both teams saw attacking chances go begging as the game neared the hour mark, the Broncos managing to hang on after Johnson burst through the line, and only a desperate lunge from Manu Vatuvei prevented Dale Copley from touching down.

With the game in the balance, Jack Reed laid on a one-handed offload to a flying Barba who then found himself in a one-on-one with his opposite Sam Tomkins. The Broncos No 1 backed himself and used a fend and a second burst of pace to beat the Englishman and run in to score before Hunt converted to leave them three adrift.

The Warriors hit back soon after when Jacob Lillyman and Sebastine Ikahihifo combined before Laumape took an inside pass to rocket through and draw Barba for Townsend to score, before Johnson added two more to give them the eventual match-winning lead.

Warriors 19 (Ben Henry, Konrad Hurrell, Chad Townsend tries; Shaun Johnson 3 cons; FG), Broncos 10 (Jake Granville, Ben Barba tries; Ben Hunt con, pen). HT: 13-6.

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