Bulldogs bite Eels in scrappy affair

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Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Parramatta Eels

The Canterbury Bulldogs have put a heartbreaking loss last week behind them to take a 20-12 win over local rivals the Parramatta Eels in front of 15,000 fans at ANZ Stadium.

The points seemingly all came inside the first with three of the four tries in the match coming within the first fifteen minutes. The first points however came in just the second minute when Moses Mbye accepted an easy two points after the Eels conceded a penalty on their own line and the Bulldogs lead 2-0.

The Bulldogs then extended their lead in the 7th minute when Brett Morris took a pass from brother Josh which Parra players protested vociferously with Mitch Moses in particular not happy that the pass wasn't called forward by Touch Judge Phil Henderson or referee Ashley Klein who awarded the try on the spot.

Parramatta then fought back with a try of their own just two minutes later when Clint Gutherson crossed in the corner but all the work was done midfield by an offload on halfway which gave the Eels the space down the left which they used to score the try.

The Eels then took the lead with their only other try of the match through Bevan French who was able to get on the outside of the iffy Bulldogs defence and score in the corner with a gymnastic roll/flip effort that was given on the spot despite French being millimetres away from the sideline when he dived in for the in goal. The Bulldogs closed the gap to within two points on the stroke of half time with a second Moses Mbye penalty goal.

The second half was a story of frustration for both sides with plenty of opportunties and at times it was the Bulldos who were struggling to keep their line solid but in the end the Eels attack really couldn't do much and the Bulldogs levelled with 15 to go when Moses Mbye put through a penalty goal to take the scores to 12 all.

The try that sealed the Bulldogs win is a moment that Clint Gutherson would not want to watch again when his air swing at Josh Jackson's second kick gave Adam Elliott a big chance to score and that's just what he did by grounding the ball before anyone else. The Bulldogs then made sure the match was beyond doubt with just a few minutes to go when Kenny Edwards gave a way a penalty to give the Bulldogs their 20-12 victory.

Next weekend the Bulldogs make the roadtrip to the Shire with a Sunday afternoon clash against the Sharks coming up whilst the Eels play host to the Warriors at ANZ Stadium in the early ga