The Canterbury Bulldogs knock off the Wests Tigers for the second time this season.
MATCH DETAILS
The injury-riddled Tigers missed a serious opportunity last night as a win would’ve put them in seventh place with four matches remaining. They now face a harder path to finals football and play a Manly side next week fresh off a defeat to the Warriors.
The Tigers flew out of the blocks early with winger Paul Momirovski scoring a good individual try in the seventh minute to put the away side up 6-0. The Tigers then lost both Moses Mbye (quad) and hooker Robbie Farah (knee) to injuries and were required to play with 15 men for the majority of the match. Second rower Luke Garner would join them briefly as he was sent to the sin bin for a late hit on Bulldogs half Lachlan Lewis. Momirovski kicked a penalty goal just before the break to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead at half-time.
Whatever Bulldogs coach Dean Pay said to his players must’ve been inspiring, as they scored the first three tries of the second half; they had an 18-6 lead only 15 minutes into the half. The Tigers were probably the better side on the day and wouldn’t roll over easily, as tries to Momirovski and Luke Garner in the last 10 minutes brought the scores to 18-16 in the last minutes with a conversion attempt to come. The biggest kick of Momirovski’s career so far had the potential to send the game into extra time, however the winger would strike it left of the posts and the Bulldogs would leave with the two points.
FOUR POINTERS
Bulldogs’ Surprising Form
The Bulldogs have now won two on the trot for the second time this year. They have won three of their last five games and seven games this season. Coach Dean Pay has done a great job with the players that he has and will be aiming to finish the season well and surpass last season’s eight wins.
Ryan Matterson is a Star
Tigers lock forward Ryan Matterson was the best on the park and statistically speaking delivered one of the best performances of the year, running for a mammoth 272 run metres, 96 post contact metres whilst also making 41 tackles with just one miss in a 72-minute performance. He has been one of the signings of the season after moving from the Roosters.
Young Tiger Proves He’s one for the Future
Tigers prop Thomas Mikaele made just his second appearance in the run-on 13 and didn’t disappoint. The young prop provided some go-forward for the Tigers, something they have been inconsistent with this season. Mikaele went on the run for 160 metres, including 61 post contact metres, whilst also making 24 tackles.
Tigers’ Finals Path
The Tigers missed an opportunity to enter the top eight and will need a win against Manly next week if they want to play finals footy for the first time since 2011. Manly are coming off a loss to the Warriors so expect next week’s clash to be a great one.
THE RESULT
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 18
Tries: Josh Jackson, Jeremy Marshall-King, Nick Meaney
Goals: Nick Meaney 3/3
Drop Goals: n/a
Wests Tigers 16
Tries: Paul Momirovski (2), Luke Garner
Goals: Momirovski 2/5
Drop Goals: n/a
SQUADS
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs: 1. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 2. Nick Meaney 3. Kerrod Holland 4. Will Hopoate 5. Reimis Smith 6. Jack Cogger 7. Lachlan Lewis 8. Aiden Tolman 9. Michael Lichaa 10. Dylan Napa 11. Josh Jackson (c) 12. Corey Harawira-Naera 13. Chris Smith. Interchange: 14. Jeremy Marshall-King 15. Renouf Toomaga 16. Danny Fualalo 17. Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
Wests Tigers: 1. Corey Thompson 2. Paul Momirovski 3. Moses Mbye (c) 4. Esan Marsters 5. David Nofoaluma 6. Benji Marshall 7. Luke Brooks 15. Thomas Mikaele 9. Robbie Farah 10. Oliver Clark 11. Luke Garner 12. Michael Chee-Kam 13. Ryan Matterson. Interchange: 14. Matthew Eisenhuth 16. Alex Twal 17. Chris Lawrence 20. Elijah Taylor.
