Dogs deliver in Galvin’s club debut

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Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Parramatta Eels

Lachlan Galvin capped his club debut with a try as the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs maintained their hold atop the NRL premiership ladder with a 30-12 victory over the Parramatta Eels.

Turning a 12-all halftime deadlock into a comprehensive victory to the delight of 59,878 supporters in attendance - the second largest regular season crowd on record - Galvin's introduction midway through the second half allowed the Bulldogs to storm home with three late tries.

Getting off to a dream start in front of the largest regular season crowd for a Bulldogs-Eels clash, the hosts made amends for an error with Matt Burton (7th minute) swooping on a Ryley Smith pass from a scrum to race 60 metres for first points.

Returning serve with an intercept of their own minutes later, Eels' winger Zac Lomax snatched a pass close to his goal line before finding Mitchell Moses (11th minute), who supported with an 80 metre run down the touchline.

The Bulldogs regained the lead midway through the half when a cut-out pass from Burton gave Bronson Xerri the space needed to send Marcelo Montoya (20th minute) over for fifth try of the year.

Viliame Kikau was sent to the sin bin for making contact with Moses while kicking late in the half; the Eels needed less than a minute to capitalise of their one-man advantage with Junior Paulo popping an offload for Dylan Walker (36th minute) to send both sides to the sheds level at 12-all.

Regaining the lead with a Stephen Crichton penalty goal shortly after the resumption of play, the Bulldogs injected Galvin into the game in the 57th minute in a reshuffle that saw Reed Mahoney replaced and Toby Sexton shifted to hooker.

The reshuffle paid dividends straight away for the Bulldogs as Connor Tracey marked his 100th first grade appearance in style with an offload to send Kikau (60th minute) over for by a converted try lead.

Having been selected to make his State of Origin debut earlier in the day, Kurt Mann justified his selection with an incisive break which saw Harry Hayes (68th minute) charge over to seal the win.

With the result in hand and the clock winding down, the Bulldogs' faithful erupted when Galvin (73rd minute) found himself in the right spot to finish off a passage of passes for a try on his club debut.

Next week, the Bulldogs will face the Rabbitohs on Sunday afternoon at Accor Stadium, while the Eels will have their second bye of the season.