The Bulldogs ended their two-game losing run with a narrow and hard-fought victory over the Cowboys in a match that was dominated by tough defence and grim attack.
Both sides were guilty of not respecting possession when they had it, turning the ball over regularly through poor handling, however both displayed tenacious and powerful defence from start to finish.
All the points were scored in the first half, The Cowboys scored all their points in a 6 minute period midway through the first and the Bulldogs responded by scoring all their points in the final 4 minutes of the first half.
The Cowboys got on the board first after spreading the ball left on one tackle, they quickly sent the ball back to the right side on the next, where Zac Laybutt got one-on-one with his defender, put on a huge sidestep back infield and then forced his way over to score a great try. Scott Drinkwater converted.
5 minutes later Drinkwater landed a penalty goal to give themselves an 8-point lead.
On the 30th minute, Murray Taulagi tried to muscle his way over for a try. The Bunker was called to adjudicate, and they ruled double movement - no try.
The Bulldogs hit back in the 36th minute when Matt Burton saw a gap in front of him, so he placed a lovely grubber through it and Jacob Preston got a good bounce, regathered and scored. Burton converted.
Then with just a few seconds left in the half, the Bulldogs shifted to the left and found Enari Tuala, who got into space before passing to debutant Jethro Rinakama who goes in to score a well-deserved try. Burton converted from the sideline and at halftime the Bulldogs were up 12-8.
Things looked dire for the Dogs in the 57th minute when they were defending. Two consecutive tackles saw Kurtis Morrin and then Matt Burton come off the field for HIA's.
Two minutes later from the back of a scrum deep in the Bulldogs half, the Cowboys sent the ball to Drinkwater, who got outside his defender and got across the line, but as he fell to ground the ball, Viliame Kikau strikes at the ball and knocks it free. Drinkwater claimed he got hit high by Kikau. The Bunker was called to review and found there was no high shot by Kikau.
With ten minutes remaining, both Morrin and Burton were cleared and returned to the field. 3 minutes after he returned, Burton made a half-break, offloaded inside to Reed Mahoney who also made a half-break before chipping over the top as he was tackled, but the kick bounced once and went dead in the Cowboys in-goal.
Two minutes later, Jeremiah Nanai made a break, ran 20 metres downfield and then kicked ahead, but the Bulldogs were able to get back and clean it up in time near their own line.
In the end, each side's below-par ball handling was their biggest hurdle in scoring more points in this match. The siren sounded with the Cowboys trying some razzle dazzle but ultimately it came to nought and Dogs held on to win 12-8.