Rugby League World Cup/Samoa 20 Tonga 12:Ireland still has a good chance of progressing out of its Rugby League World Cup group as Tonga became the first team to bow out of the 2008 finals.
Beaten 22-20 by the Tongans in their opening Pool C match, Ireland were handed a lifeline when Samoa beat their Pacific rivals 20-12 in a thrilling game in front of a crowd of 11,787 at Penrith.
That means a win by six points in their final group game against Samoa at Parramatta Stadium next Wednesday would take Andy Kelly's men through to the semi-final qualifier on November 10th.
"It's a fantastic result," said Kelly. "We asked for a lifeline and Samoa delivered.
"Both sides went gung-ho but it's good for us. It gives us something to bite into. We wanted to be in a position where we had something to chase or to be chased.
"Now we've got to work hard and prepare for our next game."
Having taken a slender lead into the break, the Samoans struck in the 53rd minute through Wigan centre George Carmont to set up a match-winning eight-point buffer.
A string of handling errors cost Jim Dymock's men any chance of victory as Samoa set up camp deep in Tongan territory for the bulk of the second half to secure the four-tries-to-two triumph.
The honours may have been shared in the battle of the hakas but it was Samoa who drew first blood in the third minute when St Helens winger Francis Meli crossed out wide.
Heavy defence forced the first mistake of the match as Tonga playmaker Feleti Mateo lost control of the ball deep in his own territory.
Samoan pivot Ben Roberts spotted space out wide to hand Meli the easiest of passages to the line for a perfect start and a 4-0 lead.
Tonga immediately launched an attack of their own, earning repeat sets deep in enemy territory.
The men in red looked destined to score through sheer weight of possession before Wakefield hooker Tevita Leo-Latu's pass found the waiting arms of Nigel Vagana, who intercepted and sprinted 90 metres to dot down adjacent to the posts.
Roberts added the extras and it was 10-0 to Samoa after 12 minutes.
The contest quickly developed into an arm wrestle punctuated by a series of bone-jarring hits from both defences before Manly-bound giant Tony Williams sent Michael Jennings over for Tonga's first try.
Williams attracted two defenders and then delivered a sublime one-armed flick for Jennings, who juggled the ball before stepping his way to the line for the converted try.
Samoa looked certain to restore order when Vagana cut through some brittle goal-line defence but the skipper failed to ground the ball as the tryline beckoned.
Tonga made the most of the let-off when Leo-Latu thundered over on the half hour — Williams' sideline conversion handing the men in red their first lead of the match at 12-10.
The match threatened to boil over from the restart when Leeds prop Kylie Leulua'i caught Fetuli Talanoa high but sanity prevailed. Referee Shayne Hayne nevertheless placed the big Samoan on report and he could miss the game against Ireland.
Samoa struck again just before half-time when Canterbury Bulldogs winger Matt Utai crashed over out wide to send his side into the break with a two point lead.
In a frenetic start to the second half both sides showed a willingness to attack but again Samoa were first to strike with a superb 60-metre effort.
Bradford back rower Dave Solomona cut through the Tongan defence in midfield before linking with second row partner Lagi Setu who in turn found Carmont for the converted try and a 20-12 lead.
A mistake from the ensuing kick-off put Tonga on the back foot once again but John Ackland's men could not land the killer blow as both Carmont and Smith Samau were denied by the officials.
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