Bulldogs bite in Townsville

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The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs held on to a 36-26 victory at 1300SMILES Stadium despite the match ending in controversial circumstances with a try awarded to Robert Lui.

The first half score two tries scored apiece with the game locked at 12-all after forty minutes. Bulldogs fullback, Ben Barba built up his confidence as he posted two tries. His first game after 23 minutes as he ran a support line to back up Greg Eastwood.

North Queensland returned serve with two quick tries five minutes later. Brent Tate with the first Cowboys points as he finished off a line break from Glen Hall. The second scored by second-rower, Dallas Johnson who strolled through the Bulldogs defence thanks to a secondary strong run from Glen Hall.

Ben Barba closed the half for the Bulldogs with his second four-pointer of the evening as he made the defenders look like amateur. At the break, the game in a dead lock at 12-all.

The Cowboys looked to be returning to form quickly in the second half as fill in fullback, Clint Greenshields dived on a mistake from Ben Barba in goal to score two minutes into the second forty.

Several penalties throughout the contest saw some inconsistency in the policing of the ruck. However the Cowboys capitalized on this as Robert Lui extended the lead to 8 points with a penalty goal, 20-12, after 50 minutes.

From that point on it was downhill for the Cowboys as the Bulldogs posted four unanswered tries in 20 minutes. Ben Barba was in the action once again, this time to provide a pin-point pass to his winger in Mitch Brown to dive over the chalk.

Tony Williams has been criticised as of late, however, tonight he managed to cross the white-wash and set up Greg Eastwood for his own try. Thanks to the man they call 'T-Rex', the boys from Canterbury blew the score out to 30-20.

Man of the match, Trent Hodkinson put the final nail in the Cowboys coffin with a simple 'show and go' dart from acting half to secure the victory. However, before the celebrations could be started, the Cowboys through Robert Lui posted the final points of the outing.

In a somewhat controversial situation, the video referee failed to rule on a knock on from Aston Sims to award the green lights. Luckily for the Bulldogs, their lead was large enough to secure victory in Townsville, 36-36 in front of 12,775.

Match Details
North Queensland Cowboys 26 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 36
Venue: Willows Sports Complex
Crowd: 12,775
Halftime Score: 12 all

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:
3 points - Trent Hodkinson
2 points - Josh Reynolds
1 point - Robert Lui

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS (26)
Tries: Brent Tate, Robert Lui, Dallas Johnson, Clint Greenshields
Field Goals:
Conversions: Robert Lui (4/4)
Penalty Goals: Robert Lui (1/1)

CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS (36)
Tries: Ben Barba (2), Trent Hodkinson, Mitch Brown, Tony Williams, Greg Eastwood
Field Goals: Josh Reynolds (0/1)
Conversions: Trent Hodkinson (6/6)
Penalty Goals:

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary

TEAM NEWS: Cowboys –  Thurston, Kostjasyn, Graham OUT; Morgan to halfback, Thompson is the hooker, KFFL moves to the wing and Leary comes onto the bench.

Bulldogs –  Josh Morris, Josh Reynolds and Tony Williams IN; Tim Lafai, Joel Romelo and Browne OUT

1 Clint Greenshields 20 Kalifa Faifai Loa 3 Brent Tate 4 Kane Linnett 5 Antonio Winterstein 19 Michael Morgan 7 Robert Lui 8 Matthew Scott (c) 14 Ray Thompson 10 James Tamou 11 Tariq Sims 12 Glenn Hall 13 Dallas Johnson
Interchange: 15 Jason Taumalolo 16 Ashton Sims 17 Scott Bolton 23 Blake Leary

Bulldogs: 1. Ben Barba 2. Mitch Brown 23. Josh Morris 4. Krisnan Inu 5. Sam Perrett 19. Josh Reynolds 7. Trent Hodkinson 8. Aiden Tolman 9. Michael Ennis 10. Sam Kasiano 11. Frank Pritchard 12. Josh Jackson 13. Greg Eastwood 14. Dene Halatau 16. James Graham 17. Dale Finucane 24. Tony Williams
Good evening NRL fans and welcome to Willow Sports Complex where the North Queensland Cowboys take on the Canterbury Bulldogs.
6 min: The Cowboys survive the Bulldogs first raid on their line
8 min: 40/20 CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Josh Reynolds kicks a 40/20.
Massive kick from Josh Reynolds, he earns the Bulldogs a 40/20. Scrum feed for the Dogs 15 metres from the Cowboys line
11 min: Sam Perrett dived in the corner, but it's denied for a forward pass as the Bulldogs spread it wide to the corner quickly. Scrum feed to the Cowboys on their own 10 metre line
13 min: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Sam Perrett makes an unforced error.
Knock on against Perrett who failed to take the catch off the last tackle kick
14 min: UNFORCED ERROR NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Brent Tate makes an unforced error.
Cowboys tried to push the pass through Brent Tate and it's gone a miss. Scrum Bulldogs, 10m off their line
15 min: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Greg Eastwood makes an unforced error.
Greg Eastwood hands the ball straight back to the Cowboys as he knocks on from the scrum feed.
16 min: Penalty to the Cowboys for the Bulldogs offside, Cowboys take the quick tap 10m ou
17 min: Another mistake from the Cowboys sees points go begging. Dallas Johnson drops it. Scrum feed Bulldogs 10 metres off their own line
23 min: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Ben Barba. Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Ben Barba backs up in support to take a short pass from Greg Eastwood who managed to break free and sprint 30 metres to the mouth of the posts. The Bulldogs with a run away try to get the points first up tonight. Trent Hodkinson with the conversion from right in front makes no mistake
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6-0
24 min: Penalty to the Bulldogs sees them march up over halfway, they will look to go back to back
28 min: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Brent Tate. Conversion attempt by Robert Lui successful.
Brent Tate scores under the posts after a strong burst from Glen Hall, Robert Lui converts from in front
6 all
30 min: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Dallas Johnson. Conversion attempt by Robert Lui successful.
Another strong run from Glen Hall on the play previous sets up the Cowboys for their second this time through Dallas Johnson
North Queensland Cowboys 12-6
32 min: Clint Greenshields almost has a collision with his teammate from the kick off luckily doesn't happen and the cowboys make big metres in the set after points
34 min: Cowboys luckily retain possession after an offload deep in their own half is almost cleaned up by Sam Perrett but luckily for the Cowboys he knocks it on
38 min: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Ben Barba. Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Ben Barba gets his second try of the match, with some good speed and a convincing dummy he is able to beat the Cowboys defensive line, Hodkinson has no problems with the conversion
12 all
40 min: UNSUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Field goal attempt by Josh Reynolds unsuccessful.
Josh Reynolds takes the shot at one point from a long way out but doesn't have the distance or the length
12 all
40 min: HALF TIME at 1300 Smiles Stadium and the scores are all locked up at 12-12 with tries to Brent Tate and Dallas Johnson for the Cowboys and a double for Ben Barba for the Bulldogs
41 min: Second Half underway, Cowboys have first possession in the second half
41 min: PENALTY COWBOYS - Bulldogs ruled to have been to quick leaving the 10m, Cowboys find touch on halfway
42 min: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Clint Greenshields. Conversion attempt by Robert Lui successful.
Clint Greenshields scores after Ben Barba makes a mess on the clean up from a Robert Lui kick,
North Queensland Cowboys 18-12
44 min: Cowboys complete their set after points and Bulldogs having to work it out from their own 10m line
45 min: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Michael Ennis makes an unforced error.
Michael Ennis ruled to have knocked on after the ball hit him on the shoulder, tries to argue his case with referee Matt Cecchin but with no luck
48 min: PENALTY COWBOYS - Cowboys get a penalty after Sam Kasiano hit Dallas Johnson was hit late, earlier on in the set after referee Matt Cecchin played advantage
48 min: PENALTY BULLDOGS - Cowboys player ruled to be offside after a knock on
48 min: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Dale Finucane makes an unforced error.
Dale Finucane drops the ball after a flick on from the Bulldogs
49 min: PENALTY COWBOYS - Sam Kasiano penalised for a shoulder charge, Cowboys to take the penalty shot
50 min: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Penalty goal attempt by Robert Lui successful.
Robert Lui's penalty attempt from in front successful, pushes the lead out to 8 points
North Queensland Cowboys 20-12
53 min: PENALTY BULLDOGS - Ray Thompson penalised for a late tackle on Josh Reynolds
55 min: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Mitch Brown. Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Mitch Brown scores in the corner after Ben Barba throws a cut out pass, Conversion from Hodkinson goes over after hitting the post
North Queensland Cowboys 20-18
57 min: Clint Greenshields has no luck with the bounce of the ball and as a result the Bulldogs get a repeat set
58 min: Josh Reynolds held up in goal on tackle 4 after looking almost certain to score
59 min: Robert Lui puts in a good kick that finds touch 20m out from the Bulldogs line and gives his side a breather
60 min: Bulldogs make a mistake and Fai Fai Loa gets the run towards the goal line
63 min: Bulldogs get some luck after a Robert Lui kick rebounds off James Graham and they come up with possession
65 min: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Tony Williams. Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Tony Williams shows too much strength after the opportunity was set up by Josh Reynolds
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24-20
65 min: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Tony Williams makes an unforced error.
Tony Williams makes an error close to his own goal line
67 min: Not good news for Cowboys fans with Michael Morgan coming off the field and going straight up the tunnel
68 min: PENALTY BULLDOGS - Glen Hall penalised for a strip
69 min: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Frank Pritchard makes an unforced error.
Frank Pritchard makes an error and relieving the pressure the Bulldogs were trying to put on the Cowboys defence
69 min: Perfectly placed kick by Lui causes a few problems for Ben Barba at the back but a flying Fai Fai Loa gets a hand to it and goes into touch
72 min: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Greg Eastwood. Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Greg Eastwood strolls under the posts untouched off a T-Rex offload after Clint Greenshields makes an error from the kick
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 30-20
73 min: PENALTY BULLDOGS - Cowboys try the short kick-off but goes out on the full
74 min: Not good news for Cowboys fan with Fox Sports reporting that Michael Morgan has reinjured his shoulder and won't be back tonight
74 min: PENALTY BULLDOGS - Cowboys ruled to be not square at marker
75 min: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Trent Hodkinson. Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Trent Hodkinson gets the green lights from the video referees as he dived over through Lui
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 36-20
77 min: PENALTY COWBOYS - Bulldogs penalised for pushing the head into the tackled player
79 min: VIDEO REFEREE - Checking a possible Robert Lui TRY, Checking possible knock on, Referee Matt Cecchin says TRY
79 min: TRY NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Scored by Robert Lui. Conversion attempt by Robert Lui successful.
Robert Lui gets the green lights from the video referees somewhat controversially, Lui converts his own try
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 36-26
80 min: FULL Time at 1300 Smiles Stadium, the Bulldogs came from behind and had the strength to complete victory 36-26
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