[ Source : NRL.com]

The Warriors will finish in the top four for the first time since 2007 after an 8-6 win over the Dragons in Auckland on Friday night.

The victory was the Warriors’ 16th of the season but looks to have come at a cost with five-eighth Luke Metcalf suffering a hamstring injury.

A bizarre opening to the match when the Warriors allowed the kick-off to bounce and the ball ended up with Dragon’s center Zac Lomax who dived over to score, but the bunker ruled Lomax had lost the ball into Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad as he tried to collect it.

On the back of a six-again call, the Warriors opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Adam Pompey took a pass from Metcalf and sliced back infield on an angled run to bag his fifth try of the season.

A mistake at dummy half by Dragons hooker Connor Muhleisen invited the Warriors into the red zone and Nicoll-Klokstad made them pay when he exploded through a Lomax tackle to make it 10-0.

A double blow for the Dragons in the 26th minute when debutant Sione Fonua (leg) and Lomax (head knock) left the field and hooker Jacob Liddle was forced to play on the left wing.

The home side should have gone further ahead in the 35th minute but Addin Fonua-Blake lost the ball as he was attempting to ground it and the Red V hung on.

The Dragons looked to have opened their account in the 53rd minute when Liddle snuck over from dummy half but replays showed he had lost control of the ball before getting it down.

With 19 minutes to play the Dragons did get on the board after a Ben Hunt bomb ended up in the hands of Billy Burns who got a flick pass away to Lomax to dot down for his seventh try of the season.

A mistake by Freddy Lussick with seven minutes to play gave the Dragons great field position but Zane Musgrove spilled the ball on the second tackle and the Warriors came away.

The Warriors then sealed the win when Shaun Johnson grubbered into the in-goal and Dragons fullback Tyrell Sloan made a mess of cleaning it up and Fonua-Blake grounded it. Pompey’s conversion made it 16-6 before he added a late penalty goal for a 12-point win.

The Warriors have now won seven in a row for the first time since Round 7-14, 2002, when they won eight straight.