NYC Rd 24 Canterbury 22 Wests Tigers 12

by NRL

The Bulldogs Toyota Cup team have sealed their position on top of the NYC ladder after a convincing 22-22 victory over the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium.

The Bulldogs commenced the first half running towards the northern end of the ground and opened with a great set. An arm wrestle followed and our pups managed to gain the upper hand through a try to in-form winger John Sila who dived over in the corner in the 8th minute after collecting a nice kick from Patrick Templeman. Templeman was successful with the conversion and the Pups took an early lead 6-0.

A beautiful 40/20 from Jaline Graham, followed by back-to-back penalties saw the Pups cross again in the 15th minute, after a superb flick pass from Ed Murphy put winger Sam Ahofono over the line for the Pups to stretch out to an early 10-0 lead.

Plenty of enthusiasm and energy from both sides saw an even battle across the field. The pups almost added to the score in the 25th minute through Sam Ahofono, but the ref called a forward pass. In a low scoring first half, both teams showed great defence and went up the tunnel at half time with scores unchanged at 10-0.

The Pups extended the game to a 16-0 lead just four minutes in to the second half with a nice try to James Ralph, who came in to the game off the interchange bench, Templeman who took over the kicking duties for this game was successful with the boot.

The Tigers came at the Bulldogs guns blazing and it took some very strong defence from the Bulldogs to hold them out, along with a great play in goal from Templeman and Sila who took a risky chance to make it out of the in-goal whilst under pressure from Tigers attackers.

Some in-different play from the Pups on their own line saw the Tigers come extremely close and it wasn't long before they started their comeback, scoring two quick tries in both the 64th and 68th minute.

The first try was awarded to second rower Kyle Lovett, which was closely followed by a try to prop Mosese Fotuaika, who muscled over the defence. Manaia Rudolph had a 100% strike rate with the boot, claiming the extra four points to bring the score to 16-12 with twelve minutes to play.

Although the Tigers were on the comeback the Pups looked confident and put the icing on the cake with a try in the 79th minute. Captain Moses Mbye who shifted to the halves for this game received a penalty after being on the wrong end of a high shot, which set the pups up in good field position with Oliver Gordon barging his way over the line to add the final four pointer of the game.

A successful kick from Templeman sealed the deal and the Pups walked away from the game with a 22-12 victory over fellow top four contenders the Wests Tigers.

Bulldogs: 22 (Sila, Ahofono, Ralphs, Gordon Tries. Templeman 3 Goals)
Wests Tigers: 14 (Lovett, Fotuaika Tries. Rudolph 2 Goals)

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