Matt Russell crossed in the 72nd minute and Danny Brough converted to give Scotland a two-point buffer, before the defense held off a barrage of Tonga attacking raids in the final minutes to preserve a 26-24 win on Tuesday in their Group C Rugby League World Cup match.
Tonga scored five tries to Scotland’s four and had Micky Paea held up in the 80th minute and halfback Daniel Foster adjudged by the TV referee to have knocked-on over the line as the siren sounded.
However, they were let down by inaccurate goalkicking and too many handling errors.
Brough landed five goals to make the difference in a game in which Scotland conceded the first try, rallied to lead 20-4 at halftime, then squandered the 16-point cushion and had to score late to seal a comeback win.
Tonga were the favorites going into the match, as they had a sprinkling of experienced National Rugby League players, but Scotland ground out a solid first-half lead.
“Many people didn’t give us a chance looking at that Tonga team, but we found a way to win,” Scotland coach Steve McCormack said.
“There are certain decisions you can argue with, but some go your way and you can’t look at that and say we were lucky. We earned everything we got. Tonga were brilliant for 30 minutes, but we found a way to win,” he added.
Tonga captain Brent Kite thought Foster had grabbed a last-ditch win and said the loss was “really gut-wrenching.”
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
RSS