The Sydney Roosters Holden Cup side have gone down fighting, 23-16 in a close encounter with the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium tonight.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the opening half, but it was Paul Greens young Roosters outfit that were first to score with in-form fullback Nene Macdonald breaking through the Canterbury line and off the back of the field possession gained centre Brendan Elliot crossed and it was 4-0 after 15 minutes.
It wasnt long however before the dominant Dogs were back in the match however with a penalty piggy-backing the home side up the field into Roosters territory and from the resulting set, lock Jack Creighton was gifted an inside-ball close to the line and dived over to tie it up.
Dogs No.1 Patrick Templeman added the extras to take a two-point lead.
As the half time break loomed it seemed we would head into the sheds with just one try a piece, however the Dogs worked their way through the middle of the field and backrower David Minute crossed after he found space down the left edge and Canterbury went into the break with a 10-4 lead.
The Bondi boys came out firing in the second half with Tyler Cornish directing traffic in the opening minutes after the break, with the halfback in the end guiding the side close enough to the line for Jokatama Dokonivalu to wind up and crash through the defensive line to score. Elliot converted from in front and the scores were again locked up, this time at 10-all.
It was tight-tussle following the Roosters opener but the Dogs bit back through Adam Elliot, only to then see the Roosters do the same through Jack Siejka after a perfect ball from fill-in five-eighth Braeden Batiste and see the scores again locked up, at 16-all.
In the 71st minute the Bulldogs broke through the Chooks line with five-eighth Jaline Graham dancing around defenders and seeing himself sneak through to score. Templeman converted to see the lead stretched to 22-16.
As the Roosters began to throw everything at the Canterbury side, they held strong and managed to stay composed, march up the field and Templeman again showed his skill with the boot as he slotted a field goal and confirmed the win, 23-16.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the opening half, but it was Paul Greens young Roosters outfit that were first to score with in-form fullback Nene Macdonald breaking through the Canterbury line and off the back of the field possession gained centre Brendan Elliot crossed and it was 4-0 after 15 minutes.
It wasnt long however before the dominant Dogs were back in the match however with a penalty piggy-backing the home side up the field into Roosters territory and from the resulting set, lock Jack Creighton was gifted an inside-ball close to the line and dived over to tie it up.
Dogs No.1 Patrick Templeman added the extras to take a two-point lead.
As the half time break loomed it seemed we would head into the sheds with just one try a piece, however the Dogs worked their way through the middle of the field and backrower David Minute crossed after he found space down the left edge and Canterbury went into the break with a 10-4 lead.
The Bondi boys came out firing in the second half with Tyler Cornish directing traffic in the opening minutes after the break, with the halfback in the end guiding the side close enough to the line for Jokatama Dokonivalu to wind up and crash through the defensive line to score. Elliot converted from in front and the scores were again locked up, this time at 10-all.
It was tight-tussle following the Roosters opener but the Dogs bit back through Adam Elliot, only to then see the Roosters do the same through Jack Siejka after a perfect ball from fill-in five-eighth Braeden Batiste and see the scores again locked up, at 16-all.
In the 71st minute the Bulldogs broke through the Chooks line with five-eighth Jaline Graham dancing around defenders and seeing himself sneak through to score. Templeman converted to see the lead stretched to 22-16.
As the Roosters began to throw everything at the Canterbury side, they held strong and managed to stay composed, march up the field and Templeman again showed his skill with the boot as he slotted a field goal and confirmed the win, 23-16.
