Sydney Roosters barely escape with 22-18 win over valiant Wests Tigers

THE Roosters have escaped a massive scare to record a 22-18 win over an impressive Wests Tigers outfit and secure their spot in the top four.

Mitchell Pearce of the Roosters, (left), celebrates with Jake Friend after scoring a try during the Round 24 NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the Wests Tigers at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Saturday, August 19, 2017. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

THE ROOSTERS survived a comeback inspired by their main recruit next year, James Tedesco, to beat the Wests Tigers and to hang onto a top four spot.

The Roosters rushed to a 16-0 lead after 33 minutes but that quickly evaporated as the Tigers scored two late first-half tries to stay in the game. The Tigers went on to score 18 unanswered points before the Roosters regained the lead until seven minutes remaining to win 22-18 in front of 9585 fans at a wet and windy Allianz Stadium.

It snapped their recent two-game losing streak and was the their 10th consecutive victory in clashes with the Tigers.

The Roosters were nearly hit with the upset of the season.

Tedesco inspired his side, giving the Roosters a glimpse of what they can accept when their marquee man joins the club next year. His individual brilliance set up a try for Tuimoala Lolohea to give the visitors a two-point lead with 20 minutes remaining. The pass for Lolohea was forward, but the Roosters managed to recover to prevent what would have been the upset of the season.

Tedesco saved two tries — knocking down a Boyd Cordner pass which was intended for an unmarked Ryan Matterson — while he managed to slow down a rampaging Blake Ferguson enough for him to force a pass to Mitchell Pearce which was spilt by the Roosters halfback.

But Tedesco could do nothing but look on when Latrell Mitchell crossed for the match winner in the corner.

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“He is a good player,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said. “He showed that. If you can feel like you’ve got a team under control, then a player like him pops up and creates a change in the opposition in a major way. He made a huge difference in the scoreline.”

Pearce had a hand in the opening two tries with the NSW halfback at his attacking best. He scored the opening try after four minutes when he scooped up a late offload by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves to cross near the posts. Waerea-Hargreaves may have some concerns after a stray elbow connected with the chin of Lolohea after the Tigers pivot kicked the ball.

Pearce laid on the next try with a well-timed angle pass to Aidan Guerra who strolled through untouched to extend the home side’s lead to 12 midway through the first half.

Mitchell Aubusson notched the Roosters’ third four-pointer when the veteran showed his finishing abilities when, outstretched, he planted the ball in the corner after Ferguson rose above opposing winger Malakai Watene-Zelezniak to tap the ball back for Aubusson.

The Tigers showed plenty of fight in the back and forth encounter.

Having watched on as his opposite Pearce enjoyed some space, Luke Brooks stamped his own class on the game by taking advantage of a poor defensive read by Pearce. Brooks fired a short bullet pass for Josh Aloiai to score with Pearce barely laying a hand on the Tigers back-rower.

Brooks combined with Kevin Naiqama to set up Tedesco as the halftime siren sounded with

The Roosters were well below their best.

Naiqama throwing an inside ball for Tedesco to cut through a gap created by Pearce’s over-commitment.

“We got into a really good position in the first 30 minutes and then two defensive errors which cost us,” Robinson said. “The play before half time really hurt. Put the score tight and put some pressure on us in the second half.

“Our cohesion wasn’t good enough in key areas.”

Tigers coach Ivan Cleary said his side had improved faster than he anticipated.

“We had a tough period in the middle the year after a lot of uncertainty, ” Cleary said. “There was a period of recovery for sure. The last eight weeks we’ve been very competitive.”

SYDNEY ROOSTERS 22 (M Aubusson A Guerra L Mitchell M Pearce tries M Gordon 3 goals) bt WESTS TIGERS 18 (J Aloiai T Lolohea J Tedesco tries T Lolohea 3 goals) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Chris James, Henry Perenara. Crowd: 9,585