Warriors 30 Roosters 13

BOTTLES, battles, blood and blunder. The Warriors threw everything at the Roosters last night - as their supporters threw something rather sinister - and their irresistible charge rolls on.

Their wonderful win last night, despite the interventions of the video referee, sets up a preliminary final against Manly. And, who knows, the Warriors may progress to the grand final - a first for an eighth-placed side.

If momentum is anything to go by, the Warriors will seriously threaten the Sea Eagles. They steamrolled the Roosters last night in a beautiful and brutal performance. And they did it all amid much adversity. Video referee Steve Clark disallowed one try and awarded the Roosters a controversial penalty try, before the Warriors scored 24 unanswered points in the second half.

The penalty try could easily have turned the contest, and probably should have. It came after 31 minutes. Sia Soliola had kicked through, and the ball took a bounce as wicked as the decision, evading Warriors fullback Lance Hohaia. Anthony Minichiello kicked again and then Hohaia jostled with him, appearing to link arms before the ball evaded both of them.

It was a brave decision, given that in recent times, officials have given little leeway for penalty tries; they have craved 100 per cent certainty that a try would have scored without the interference. In this case, Minichiello was far from a guaranteed scorer and the interference was questionable. And it was vigorously questioned by the Warriors.

"Can you honestly say he would have scored?" the Warriors' stand-in skipper Micheal Luck asked referee Tony Archer.

"He's going in to attempt to play the ball, your player grabbed him and took away his opportunity to score," Archer replied.

"It's a big call," Luck said.

Big indeed. The Roosters, who had been repelled by wonderful Warriors defence for much of the first half, took the game by the scruff of the neck, opening up a six-point lead before Braith Anasta's 40th-minute field goal stretched the half-time advantage to 13-6. "I have no doubt he would have scored if Hohaia had not illegally impeded him," video referee Clark said afterwards.

The last penalty try in a final, somewhat remarkably, was in the last final at Mt Smart Stadium, when Parramatta forward Chad Robinson was ruled to have taken out Michael Witt. This time, the match did go the home side's way. That happened because the Warriors, to their credit, lifted rather than dropped their heads. Five minutes into the second half, Hohaia dummied to beat Roosters lock Craig Fitzgibbon to score his second try of the night.

Controversy reigned again, and bottles rained, as the Roosters stood in the in-goal area waiting for Witt's conversion. Archer was forced to head to the sideline afterwards, telling an official to find the ground manager and send him to the northern end of the stadium.

Clark didn't help the situation, denying Aidan Kirk a try on 52 minutes after halfback Nathan Fien's kick. Anasta managed to get his forearm between the ball and the grass, but there was strong evidence for a benefit of the doubt decision. They would not be denied, however, after 56 minutes, when hooker Ian Henderson sneaked through and found some grass, probably, despite Anasta's attention again. This time, Clark awarded the try, with benefit of the doubt going to the Warriors.

When winger Manu Vatuvei, in the game as ever, slid over for a try, copping some knees in the back from Minichiello for his effort, the match was over.

It was a gripping contest. Archer was so excited he blew the pea out of the whistle, literally, and required a replacement.

But no one blew harder than the Warriors, who worked heroically to repel the Roosters on two key occasions midway through the first half; first Minichiello gave Amos Roberts some space but Witt wrapped him up, and then just two minutes later the same man was denied again, after Sam Perrett was brought down by prop Steve Price, who somehow broke from the scrum to take the winger down.

The Warriors supporters, the same ones who had sold the match out in 12 minutes, whipped themselves into an early frenzy; the curtain-raiser featured a rollicking win by the under-20s side over Penrith, while first-grade captain Price was given a standing ovation for merely wandering out onto the field for the toss.

The 25,585 crowd included All Blacks Mils Muliaina and Ma'a Nonu, the latter sporting a retro Illawarra Steelers jersey. A retro jersey for a retro performance.

NZ WARRIORS 30 (L Hohaia 2, I Henderson, A Kirk, M Vatuvei tries; M Witt 5 goals) bt ROOSTERS 13 (penalty try-A Minichiello, M Pearce tries; C Fitzgibbon 2 goals; B Anasta field goal) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: T Archer. Crowd: 25,585.