Match Details
Match Date	4th Jun, 2005
Opponent	South Sydney
Result	Draw 21-21
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Sydney Showground Homebush
Crowd	8,911
Referee	Shayne Hayne

National Rugby League also-rans South Sydney have held National Rugby League reigning premiers Canterbury to a thrilling 21-21 draw in their round 13 clash at the Sydney Showgrounds.

The teams could not be separated despite a period of golden point extra time which saw the Bulldogs denied a try and miss several attempts at field goal, as the Rabbitohs held on for their first premiership point after six straight losses.

The Bulldogs have now posted just four wins from 12 starts and suffered a further blow to their season when Sonny Bill Williams lasted just one hit-up in his return from an extended injury lay-off.

Williams limped from the ground in obvious pain and was later diagnosed with a lateral miniscule tear in his right knee which will put him out of the game for up to eight weeks.

The Rabbitohs comprehensively outplayed a lacklustre Bulldogs outift in the first half and deserved their 13-2 lead at the break.

Canterbury grabbed the early lead with a Hazem El Masri penalty goal following an incorrect play-the-ball by Ashley Harrison, but from then on it was all Souths.

Scott Logan went over for their opening try after 17 minutes when referee Shayne Hayne failed to pick up a knock-on and the prop jinked his way through some feeble Bulldogs defence to score in the Rabbitohs' first real foray into their opponents' 10-metre zone.

Five-eighth John Sutton added the extras from right in front to give the visitors a 6-2 break, and that became 8-2 minutes later when the Dogs were pinged for offside.

Souths fell just short of their second try when Sutton was dragged down just short of the line and it appeared they had gifted Canterbury back possession when a grubber went dead in goal.

But the Bulldogs coughed it up in their own half and were made to pay, with Mark Minichiello barging his way through the attempted tackle of Brent Sherwin and dragging full-back Luke Patten over with him to dot down.

Souths' dominance sprung Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes into action and he injected Williams into the fray, but it was a short cameo.

Sutton knocked over a field goal with a minute left on the clock to give Souths their 11-point buffer at the break.

The Rabbitohs however have showed an inability to play the full 80 minutes and it was no surprise the Bulldogs took the lead with tries in the 47th and 54th minutes.

Prop Chris Armit put on the big right-hand fend and dragged over three players to slam the ball down, and then centre Jamaal Lolesi bagged the first of two four-pointers in his 100th game.

The Rabbitohs hit back through hooker Trent Young when Adam Perry had the ball stripped 10 metres out from his own line.

Young sliced through some more poor Bulldogs defence and Sutton converted to make it 19-14.

But Canterbury soon had the lead back when Souths were caught short on the left and Patten broke down the sideline before passing inside to a flying Lolesi who recorded his double, with El Masri converting.

Souths pulled ahead with five minutes to go after Braith Anasta was penalised by Hayne for a tackling infringement.

Sherwin's field goal with 90 seconds left ultimately took the Bulldogs into extra time because a late Anasta attempt for the win in regulation time was smothered.

Anasta had two more attempts in the golden point period with both smothered, while Sherwin also missed from two goes.

The first though provided the biggest controversy in the match with Adam MacDougall and Shannon Hegarty leaving the ball after it failed to go dead.

Canterbury centre Cameron Phelps grounded it and claimed the try but the Bulldogs were denied by video referee Steve Nash who ruled that Lolesi was offside despite not being involved in the play.

MacDougall and Hegarty breathed a sigh of relief and the Rabbitohs held on for a well-earned point.

Source: www.abc.net.au

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