It was a long time coming but the Dragons finally notched back to back wins with a marathon 28-10 NRL round 23 victory over the hapless New Zealand Warriors at WIN Stadium on Saturday night.
The Dragons locked up consecutive victories for the first time since round 16 with a six tries to two win in one of the longest games held this season thanks to a whopping 20 penalties (12-8 to the hosts) and video referee Chris Ward being called on seven times - in the first half alone.
The constant stoppages ensured the game did not finish until almost two hours after the kick-off.
But it was one of the few times referee Jason Robinson didn't refer to Ward that proved the most controversial with New Zealand winger Francis Meli awarded a 68th minute try on the spot however replays showed his foot went into touch as he grounded the ball.
It mattered little to the result as the Dragons (12-10 record) strolled to victory to keep their top four finals hopes alive.
After leading 18-6 at halftime, the Dragons sealed victory with winger Nick Youngquest (50th minute) and backrower Ashton Sims (73rd) crossing in the second stanza to negate Meli's dubious four pointer.
Both sides had to prove patient in the first half before St George Illawarra took a 12 point buffer at the main break.
After Robinson arrived on the field several minutes late, he blew 14 penalties (8-6 to the hosts) in the first half before Ward was called on seven times in the first 40 minutes as the Dragons ran in four tries to one.
Dragons centre John Carlaw celebrated his 150th first grade game by scoring off a Ben Hornby kick in the ninth minute before the Dragons hooker Mark Riddell took a quick tap and burrowed over the line in the 13th.
However, the Warriors hit back when the Dragons hung off fullback Brent Webb who crossed in the 20th minute to cut the deficit to 8-6.
Hornby (28th minute) and Warriors centre Clinton Toopi (32nd) were denied tries by Ward before Dragons winger Reece Simmonds scored a bizarre four pointer in the 36th.
A pass from Dragons lock Shaun Timmins bounced off Simmonds' knee toward the try line and the winger simply dived on the loose ball to score.
Hornby did it all himself in the 39th minute when he sliced up the Warriors' right flank before halfback Mathew Head finally landed a conversion to blow the deficit out to 18-6 at halftime.
