Souths outlast Dogs in dour battle

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Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v South Sydney Rabbitohs

The Bulldogs woes continue with yet another loss in a grinding match against the Rabbitohs, succumbing to a 14-6 defeat at ANZ Stadium in the annual Good Friday clash.

The game got off to a cracking start when Cody Walker sent a beautiful long cut-out pass to Campbell Graham on the left and the winger dived over to score in the corner after just 2 minutes of play. Adam Reynolds converted with a stunning kick from the sideline.

In the ninth minute the Bulldogs were denied a try when Kerrod Holland was ruled to have pushed Dane Gagai over as they were both chasing a grubber. Holland grounded the ball for what looked a try but the video ref ruled otherwise.

In the 13th minute the Bunker was in action again, but this time it was a foregone conclusion as Ofahiki Ogden crashed over for a soft try. Holland added the extras to level the scores for Canterbury.

Ten minutes later Reynolds kicked a penalty goal to give his Rabbitohs side a 2 point lead.

In the 26th minute, South Sydney extended their lead when Damien Cook put in a magnificent stabbed grubber which found Alex Johnston flying through, who regathered and scored to the right of the posts. Reynolds converted.

Just before the halftime siren sounded, Souths looked to have scored again when Reynolds, on the right side, chipped over to Corey Allan and found him unmarked and he looked to have snared another four-pointer. But the play comes back to where Knight was found to have interfered in the defensive line and the try was disallowed.

The second half was a frustrating one for both sides, full of poor last tackle options, bad kicks, some poor handling and discipline. Neither side got across the tryline, nor was there any change to the score.

The Bulldogs looked somewhat better in the second half, with Lachlan Lewis having a big game defensively. Souths were very good in defence for the most part, however both sides will walk away feeling somewhat disappointed with their performances.

Next week Canterbury host the Cowboys where they'll rate their chances, while the Rabbitohs head along the M4 to Penrith.