Bulldogs grit out victory over Souths

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have fought hard to record a 9-point win over South Sydney today at ANZ Stadium in front of over 18,000 vocal supporters.

Looking to bounce back strongly from a first-up loss to the Roosters, the South Sydney outfit started well, 20 minutes in a try in the corner to Rhys Wesser starting the red-and-green brigade as well. A penalty goal not long after put the home side up by 8 points to nil, and what had been a solid, well defended start from the Bulldogs suddenly looked shaky.

Despite the solid defence from both sides through most of the first half, the first forty minutes was punctuated with plenty of handling errors for both sides. The big difference between the sides leading into the halftime break was Missed Tackles - the Bulldogs only missed 6 to the Rabbitohs 17 - and it told with five minutes to go, with two tries to the blue-and-whites putting the "visitors" in front 12-8 at halftime. Jamal Idris and Bryson Goodwin were the men with the "T" beside their name, the former brushing off a feeble Greg Inglis tackle attempt to run in untouched.

The second half was all the Rabbitohs' with a try double early on for Nathan Merritt. Suddenly the Bunnies had an 18-12 lead and the Bulldogs looked like they were breaking, but a great try to Kris Keating saw the scores leveled again.

For the second week in a row, it would be Chris Sandow who put the Rabbitohs up by one point, kicking a field goal, but also for the second week in a row, the opposition would go on to score two tries to win after Sandow's field goal. First debutant Tim Lafai took a straight run at the line out wide to put the Bulldogs in front 22-19, while on the stroke of fulltime, Andrew Ryan forced his way over to finalise the Canterbury victory.

A spectacular performance from LeagueUnlimited.com Man-of-the-Match Jamal Idris saw him making plenty of hit-ups, score a try, and deliver a couple of powerful fends on much-vaunted opponent Greg Inglis. Next week the Bulldogs will host the Roosters at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon, while Souths are the away side at the same ground against Parramatta on Friday evening.

Match Details
South Sydney Rabbitohs 19 were defeated by Canterbury Bulldogs 28
National Rugby League - Round 2 - Sunday March 20, 2011 2:00pm
Venue: ANZ Stadium
Referee: Gavin Badger and Brett Suttor
Video Referee: Tim Mander
Touch Judges: Daniel Eastwood and Henry Perenara
Crowd: 18,271
Halftime: South Sydney Rabbitohs 8 Canterbury Bulldogs 12

Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 Points - Jamal Idris (1 Try)
2 Points - Nathan Merritt (2 Tries)
1 Point - Timoteo Lafai (1 Try)

SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS (19)
Tries: Rhys Wesser, Nathan Merritt (2)
Field Goals: Chris Sandow (1/1)
Conversions: Chris Sandow (2/3)
Penalty Goals: Chris Sandow (1/1)

CANTERBURY BULLDOGS (28)
Tries: Andrew Ryan, Kris Keating, Jamal Idris, Bryson Goodwin, Timoteo Lafai
Conversions: Bryson Goodwin (4/5)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary 23 min: TRY
Video referee, possible Souths try to Wesser in the corner. Looks good... TRY!
South Sydney Rabbitohs 6-0
34 min: PENALTY GOAL
South Sydney look to be in control at the moment, as Chris Sandow pots a penalty goal.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 8-0
38 min: TRY
Canterbury put their first points on the board after some sensational right side play. Idris crosses the line, and Bryson Goodwin adds the extras.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 8-6
40 min: TRY
Another try to the Bulldogs in the shadow of halftime, with Goodwin taking a Keating bomb perfectly. He converts his own try, and Canterbury take the lead.
Canterbury Bulldogs 12-8
43 min: TRY
We're going to the video referee for a possible try to Souths.



Benefit of the doubt, TRY for Nathan Merritt. Sandow misses the conversion, and we're all tied up here.
12 all
43 min: NEWS: The Bulldogs knock on early in the second half, and Souths are on the attack.
50 min: TRY
Merritt is in again after some poor defense from the Dogs. Souths again take the lead.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 18-12
57 min: TRY
Keating scores for the dogs, Goodwin converts, and once again we're all tied up. It's looking like being a tight one folks!
18 all
67 min: FIELD GOAL
Sandow nudges his team in front with a cheeky field goal.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 19-18
71 min: SIN BIN
With the Bullogs heavily on attack, Wesser makes a try saving tackle, however he holds on too long in the tackle, and is sent to the sin bin for his trouble. The Bulldogs get the penalty in prime field position, and the Rabbitohs are playing a man down.
63 min: NEWS: The Bulldogs hold Dave Taylor up on tackle 5, great defence.
73 min: TRY
From the ensuing penalty, Lafai scores. Bryson Goodwin fails to convert, and it's a 3 point margin!
Canterbury Bulldogs 22-19
80 min: TRY
Andrew Ryan scores right on half time to increase his team's lead. Goodwin adds the extras, and the Canterbury Bulldogs run out winners, 28 points to 19.
Canterbury Bulldogs 28-19