Match Details
Match Date	19th Jun, 2004
Opponent	Canberra
Result	Win 24-20
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Steve Price
Venue	Gosford (Express Advocate Stadium)
Crowd	10,473
Referee	Tim Mander

The Bulldogs beat the Canberra Raiders 24-20 in a thrilling NRL round 15 match in Gosford on Saturday evening.

The Bulldogs had a 12-10 half-time lead in what was a home fixture for the Canterbury-Bankstown side.

But despite being in front for the entire second half the Dogs were unable to shut out a valiant Raiders outfit until after the final siren.

In the dying moments of the match, Canberra launched an attacking raid and were only prevented from scoring when Todd Carney put a kick to the left only to see a desperate Brent Sherwin dive on the loose ball.

After the siren Bulldogs captain Steve Price admitted that Canberra had been a tough team to beat.

"They've been going really well over the last few weeks, Canberra, and they're starting to build on some form, so we had to turn up," Price said.

"Unfortunately we let them score a few too many points but that's what they can do to you, Canberra."

The Raiders entered the match with Jason Croker out through injury and winger Matthew Gafa moving to five-eighth, while Braith Anasta started on the bench for the Bulldogs.

Canberra showed a willingness to play an expansive game from the kick-off, using the ball wide in attack and regularly changing their running angles to test the Bulldogs defence.

They were enjoying a territorial advantage and thanks to some defensive infringements from the Bulldogs they were able to take a 2-0 lead through a Gafa penalty goal.

The Bulldogs had few attacking opportunities in the opening stages, but when they did, they made the most of them.

Ben Harris scored their first try in the 13th minute, the result of the Bulldogs choosing to run the ball from a penalty, instead of taking an easy two points.

From the following set of six, Sherwin directed the play right, passing to Tony Grimaldi who used a second-man play to create an overlap and get the ball to a running Luke Patten.

The Bulldogs full-back threw a cut-out pass to an unmarked Harris who scored down the right-hand touchline.

Hazem El Masri converted to set up a 6-2 lead for the Bulldogs.

The Raiders immediately responded, with winger Phil Graham scoring a four-pointer against the run of play.

The Bulldogs were attacking on the half-way line to the left but a wayward pass was intercepted by Graham who ran unopposed to score under the posts.

Gafa converted and another penalty goal to the Raiders five-eighth saw his side take the lead 10-6.

Canberra launched several more attacks on the Bulldogs line before a turning point of the first half came from a Sherwin drop out on the 22.

Sherwin found touch inside the Raiders half to gain the feed to the scrum and from the set-piece, the Bulldogs marched their way down field.

El Masri was unlucky not to score from a grubber into the in-goal area, but only minutes later Jamaal Lolesi crossed for a well deserved try.

From a midfield play-the-ball 20 metres out from the Raiders line, Sherwin shaped to go right but threw a tight inside ball to Lolesi, who weaved his way through traffic to crash over.

El Masri added the extras to give the Bulldogs a two-point lead at the break.

The second half started in furious fashion, with the Bulldogs scoring a try in the opening minute.

In the first set of six, Roy Asotasi took a hit-up and got the ball away to Grimaldi who passed to El Masri, setting the Bulldogs winger off on a run down the right-hand touchline.

El Masri was met by the Raiders cover defence before passing to the man who started the movement, Asotasi, who fended off one Raiders' defender to score the four-pointer.

El Masri's conversion extended the Bulldogs lead to eight points.

Canberra responded with a try of their own four minutes later.

Half-back Mark McLinden used a switch play with Ian Hindmarsh who broke through the Bulldogs defence with only Patten to beat to the try line.

Hindmarsh used a nonchalant one-handed pass in drawing Patten, to set up Clinton Schifcofske for the try.

Gafa converted to make the score 18-16 in favour of the Bulldogs.

Both sides continued to test each other's defence and it was the Bulldogs who started to make consistent breaks.

They crossed Canberra's line in a series of raids, only to be held up on each occasion, before New South Wales prop Mark O'Meley finally exploited the tiring Raiders' defence.

His 65th try, converted by El Masri, restored the Bulldogs eight-point lead and it looked like they finally had Canberra's measure.

But the Raiders hit back, with Graham scoring his second try of the match to reduce the points gap once more.

Camped deep inside the Bulldogs half, the Raiders used consecutive second-man plays on the right-side of the field to feed the ball to Adam Mogg who veered towards the touchline before using a switch pass with Graham.

The Raiders' winger beat several defenders to score, but the missed conversion from Gafa left the Bulldogs with a four-point lead.

Despite the late Raiders challenge after the bell, the Bulldogs hung on to pick up a vital two points.

Source: www.abc.net.au

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