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Late surge not enough as Tigers claim tight win

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Robbie Farah’s 300th NRL game ended in victory as the Wests Tigers outlasted Newcastle 28-26 at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night.

The Knights led early when some strong defence forced a turnover, leaving centre Jesse Ramien with the simple task of picking up the loose ball and planting it down.

Minutes later, another moment of individual brilliance from fullback Kalyn Ponga saw him step past several attempted tackles and stroll across the line.

The Tigers hit back in the 23rd minute when Luke Garner offloaded for Corey Thompson to dive over.

It seemed Newcastle had scored again with 10 minutes remaining in the first half as Tim Glasby stormed onto a Mitchell Pearce pass and powered across the line.

However, replays showed he lost control of the ball in the attempt to score.

The Tigers punished Newcastle for the error, with Luke Brooks setting up Thompson for his second try of the night before Benji Marshall stretched out to plant the ball down for an 18-12 lead at the break.

In desperate need of a fast start to the second half, Connor Watson raced down the short side and found Hymel Hunt, who crashed over to make it 18-16.

Tigers veteran Farah then used all of his experience to catch Herman Ese’ese napping and barged over from dummy half.

Newcastle refused to give up and a Pearce grubber kick found its way into the hands of Tautau Moga.

Ponga added the extras for a two-point ball game.

But the visitors hit back through Paul Momirovski, with the winger scoring out wide for a 28-22 lead.

The Knights responded again when Ramien produced a nice flick pass for Shaun Kenny-Dowall, who stepped inside to score.

However, Ponga missed the conversion and Newcastle couldn’t find a way to the tryline in the final 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, the third annual Beanie for Brain Cancer Round raised more than $3 million for the Mark Hughes Foundation.

NRL fans flocked to buy beanies at matches, as well as IGA and Lowes stores, which helped make it another resounding success.

Beanie for Brain Cancer Round was the concept of former Channel Nine rugby league executive producer Matt Callander, who sadly passed away from the disease in 2017.

The Knights travel to Brookvale to face the Sea Eagles this Saturday 3 August. Kick-off is at 3pm.

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