Nightcliff Dragons recovered from slow start to beat Litchfield Bears in Round 5 of the NRL NT

NIGHTCLIFF Dragons regrouped from a slow start to power past Litchfield Bears in a thrilling but at-times scrappy 36-24 NRL NT Round 5 encounter

Nightcliff Dragons’ Shaun Wauchope on the run against Litchfield Bears. Picture: Glenn Campbell

NIGHTCLIFF regrouped from a slow start to power past Litchfield in a thrilling but at-times scrappy 36-24 NRL NT Round 5 encounter.

Dragons were on the attack right away, eager to continue their early-season form, but some miscommunication and sloppy passes put an end to early chances.

However, it didn’t take long for them to find their way over the line, with a strong run from Shaun Wauchope giving Adam Hall the chance to charge over against his former club.

The Bears were quick to respond with David Jacobson diving over the line after weaving through the Dragons’ defence.

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Nightclif looked to regroup, but some solid defensive efforts from Litchfield and execution errors kept the Dragons at bay.

That gave Litchfield, who have struggled so far this season, some confidence, and the running of front-rowers Dillan Vanderburg and Jarrod Burgess gave them plenty of momentum.

And with the duo giving Bears plenty of space, Jacobson was able to execute another clever try to give the Bears their lead.

Robert Campbell was another to benefit from the barnstorming runs for the duo, and soon Litchfield had some room on the scoreboard.

But just as momentum looked to be with Litchfield, the Dragons tipped matters back in their favour with Robbie Butcher and captain Brent Crisp working in tandem to get over the tryline.

Another bruising run over the line from Hall at the stroke of halftime saw Nightcliff back into the contest.

The Dragons took the lead early in the second period as the ball found its way out to Jone Vakacegu on the right wing.

And another came soon after for the winger as he planted the ball following a Butcher grubber.

Though Litchfield didn’t let that get the better of them and soon tied the scoring again following a Brodie Morcom try.

However, Nightcliff kept coming, with one try coming from a Butcher line break and another try came soon after from Jens Ambjerg-Pedersen.

“It was a scrappy game, we made things hard for ourselves but I can’t deny the boys their effort,” Crisp told the NT News.

“We just had to get back to playing our game. We shot ourselves in the foot at times giving away penalties while the Bears stuck it to us.

“It was a grinding game which we’re happy to come away with the two points in the end. In the second half we ran hard, ran our shape and those little things got us the lead in the end.”

Meanwhile, Darwin Brothers notched their second win of the season after beating South Darwin at Warren Park.