Gasnier back as Dragons soar 

St George Illawarra capped Mark Gasnier's long-awaited NRL return with a hard-fought 38-20 victory over Penrith at CUA Stadium on Saturday night.

The Dragons withstood a spirited Penrith fightback in the second half to claim their third win in four matches and keep alive their slim finals hopes.

The Dragons led 22-10 early in the second half, but were forced to dig deep when the Panthers drew within two points with 20 minutes to play.

Three late tries to Matt Cooper, Ben Creagh and Jason Nightingale - the last set-up by Gasnier - sealed the result for the Dragons, while ensuring the Panthers remain rooted to the bottom of the ladder after their sixth loss in seven games.

Given a roving role by Dragons coach Nathan Brown, star five-eighth Gasnier put in a solid performance playing his first game of the season after rupturing his pectoral muscle five months ago during the pre-season.

His class, though, showed in the dying seconds when he gave Nightingale his second try.

"I'm pretty tired, probably a bit underdone but it's to be expected after 18 weeks," Gasnier said of his performance after the match.

Most important, though, Gasnier got through the game unscathed.

And with the Dragons now just two points adrift of the top eight, his successful return will continue to give red-and-white supporters further hope of finals footy in 2007.

St George Illawarra looked to have had tonight's game in their keeping after charging to a 22-10 lead following two tries within three minutes before and after halftime.

The Dragons snatched a 16-10 lead at the break when centre Chase Stanley sent winger Josh Morris streaking away 60 metres to score in the final seconds of the half.

Back-up hooker Rangi Chase then made it a 12-point advantage when he swivelled over within two minutes of the re-start.

The Panthers, though, clawed their way back into the match when Richie Williams scored against his former club in the 51st minute - taking advantage of a wild pass from Stanley.

They narrowed the gap to two points when winger Nick Youngquest scored the night's fifth try from a kick - this time from Peter Wallace.

But it proved as close as the Panthers would get.

Cooper scored in the 68th minute after a Jamie Soward break, before Creagh secured the result with his try in the 72nd.