NEWS » McGregor lauded Sims impact on the match, however h

Lawrence Thomas knows he will feature in every highlights reel for this A-League season for the wrong reason.The Melbourne Victory goalkeeper is the one watching and then diving in vain as Tim Cahills 40-metre rocket scorched past him and into the net in this seasons first Melbourne derby.Its a great finish, Thomas told AAP, underplaying the strike just a touch.It was perhaps the A-Leagues best ever goal.The stunning moment had Melbourne City fans screaming, Victory fans speechless, and Thomas himself sprawled on the grass.But the mature 24-year-old gloveman has already accepted it as the goalkeepers lot.And theres no way hell be retreating from his advanced position as a sweeper-keeper when Cahill or any other forward is on the ball, 40 metres from goal.If I cop one of those a season Ill take that on the chin, he said.Nonetheless Ill continue to be in that position.I cut out a lot more balls coming through than I do conceding goals from that position and the ones I cut out are one-on-one chances.While Thomas conceded four on that October night, itd be hard to pin blame for any of them at his feet.And since then, Thomas has formed part of one of the meanest A-League defences.Victory has conceded just five goals in seven games - and one in the last month - to surge to third on the A-League table.Thomas - who was in goal for Victorys 2015 grand final win - said he was feeling confident after starting an A-League season as Victorys first-choice gloveman.I feel like Im having a solid season. Thats the greatest thing about getting a regular league spot, you get a chance weekly to perform, he said.I look back at the goals I have conceded and quite a few of them have been great finishes.Im not happy to concede. I never want to get beaten.But if youre covering certain areas of the goal and people are beating you by off the post and in or top corners, then yknow.A win over City would have Kevin Muscats side in second place with that catch-up game against Wellington Phoenix to come.Thomas said he believed Victorys early-season inconsistency had been banished and a derby day success would cement their resurgence.One week we looked fantastic and the next we didnt turn up, he said.But the last patch of five, six, seven games has been very solid. The inconsistency is gone and were in decent form.Its a massive game and especially for the fans.Coming into Christmas, we have a massive responsibility to send fans home happy. Blank Jersey . 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Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. St George Illawarra have caused one of the upsets of the NRL season with a 32-18 win over a Cronulla side, minus Paul Gallen, to all but end the Sharks minor premiership tilt.In front of a vocal 13,167 crowd at UOW Jubilee Oval, mid-season signing Tariq Sims played his best game for the Red V, breaking a heated local derby open on Saturday by scoring two tries in the second half and setting up a third in the space of 10 minutes.The win ends a five-game losing streak for the Dragons but, more importantly, lifts them to 11th spot and within two points of eighth-placed Penrith.For the Sharks, the loss leaves them without a win three games, and one point behind ladder leaders Melbourne, who play Canberra on Monday, raising serious questions about their premiership ambitions.Gallen was a late withdrawal from the game, pulling out with a calf injury in the warm-up.We were getting a fair way into the warm-up and I felt a nick in my calf, strained my calf slightly. Had a quick ultrasound and theres a slight tear. Ill get a scan tomorrow, he told Fox Sports during the game.Down 12-6 at halftime, Sims kicked off his game-changing spurt in the 49th minute, trampling over James Maloney and offloading for Mitch Rein to level the scores.The former Newcastle forward then gave his team the lead when he pounced on a Gareth Widdop grubber in the 54th minute, before powering over from close range.A Ricky Leutele try and Maloney penalty reduced the gap to six with 10 minutes to play, however the Dragons held on for one of their most-impressive wins of the season.The 32 points is a season-high, while it is also the first time in five weeks they have scored more than two tries.The Dragons made their intentions clear from the kickoff, twice shifting wide in a set that also included two offlloads and ended in an attacking position.dddddddddddd.In an end-to-end opening to the match, Chad Townsend and Josh Dugan traded try-saving efforts before Benji Marshall chipped early in the tackle count for Euan Aitken to score.The best try of the night went to Sharks fullback Ben Barba, who finished off a 95-metre effort that began with winger Sosaia Feki streaking away after an early shift in front of their own sticks.Feki failed to come out of the sheds in the second half after succumbing to a groin injury, while forward Jesse Sene-Lefao could find himself in trouble for a high shot in the 52nd minute.Dragons coach Paul McGregor lauded Sims impact on the match, however he is resigned to losing him after he suffered an ankle injury late in the game.Tariqs been really good for us since hes been here. Hes played back row and middle, but Tariq going forward, is definitely a middle player, he said.As soon as he came on he made immediate impact. He played long minutes there. Unfortunately he got a strain in the ankle there late in the game.Well get it checked and hopefully it wont keep him out for many games.Sharks coach Shane Flanagan likened his teams poor form to Brisbanes mid-season slide and denied it was panic stations at the club but remained confident of turning it around.Were not playing good footy at the moment. Weve had boys at Origin, a couple of quick turnarounds and were a bit busted at the moment, he said.Now weve got a nine-day turnaround, were looking forward to that. Its similar to the Broncos, all teams go through it. Some things just arent working for us like they were earlier in the year.Well work really hard to find it. ' ' '