Knights reel in Stingrays to claim crucial victory

Trailing 12-0 through 39 minutes, Knights five-eighth Dylan Palmer-Quigg got across on the stroke of haltime before two tries in four minutes midway through the second stanza sealed the win at Flinders Field.

It was a crucial victory for Marc Laird's side having already shared the points twice this season, with Shellharbour snatching a point off them with a try at the death at Kiama Showground last week.

Having come on the back of a disappointing 22-16 loss seventh-placed Albion Park a week earlier, it had been an indifferent run since knocking off competition leaders Gerringong a month ago.

Read more: Devils bounce back hard to thump Thirroul

Laird said seeing off the Stingrays on the road was a vital righting of the ship heading into clashes with top four sides Jamberoo and Warilla in the next fortnight.

"It was a really big game for us in the context of the year coming off two really disappointing results," Laird said.

"Even though we had a draw against Shellharbour [last week] I thought that was a game we should've won, and the Albion Park game was just a disappointing effort.

"At 12-0 down [on Saturday] it was one of those games that could've gone either way. It was one we probably could've let slip but, to the boys credit, they just dug in.

"We were equal with them on the ladder so to skip ahead of them gives us a bit of a gap there so I was stoked with the win."

The home side crossed through Tom Warner just five minutes in and looked certain to lead 12-0 at the break when Colby Smith crossd from close range in the 36^th minute.

Palmer Quigg's try moments before halftime was telling in cutting the margin back to six, with Matt Morris getting across in the 56^th minute to draw within two.

Morris combined with Tom Atkins on a length-of-the field effort just four minutes later, the latter's try under the posts ultimately claiming a 16-12 win.

"To get that try a minute before halftime was a good reward for the boys' effort," Laird said.

"Even though we were 12-0 down, I still thought the effort was there and that gave us a boost heading into that second half where we went on with it.

"The boys will get a big boost out of it. If we'd dropped that game we'd have been right back in the pack as far as the top five goes, so it was a crucial two points heading into Jamberoo [next week]."

On Sunday, Warilla showed their premiership potential with a stunning 36-22 win over Jamberoo, while Albion Park-Oak Flats outscored Berry Shoalhaven Heads 38-26 in an entertaining contest.

Elsewhere Gerringong saw off Nowra-Bomaderry 44-16 at Michael Cronin Oval, while Milton-Ulladulla notched their first win of the year 36-20 over Shellharbour.

Download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Sign up for breaking news emails below ...