Match Details
Match Date	13th Jul, 2008
Opponent	Brisbane
Result	Win 26-18
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Brisbane (Suncorp Stadium)
Crowd	37,683
Referee	Tony Archer

The Bulldogs added Brisbane to the list of high-profile casualties in round 18 with an impressive 26-18 win at Lang Park on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the return of champion captain Darren Lockyer and halves protege Peter Wallace, the Broncos looked well short of match fitness after a two-week break while the desperate Dogs ended a six-game losing run.

The performance of Daniel Holdsworth and young gun Arana Taumata overshadowed Lockyer's presence, making the most of some much-needed consistency by the Bulldogs pack to complete 30 of 37 sets.

Taumata opened the scoring with a dazzling run to the try-line while Holdsworth, Sonny Bill Williams and winger Heka Nanai all found the line for the visitors.

Level at 8-8 at the break, the Broncos looked likely to ride home on the back of their strong home support when Michael Ennis and Sam Thaiday posted consecutive tries with just over 10 minutes remaining.

But some determined defence and a late try to Nanai backed up the Dogs' one-point win at Lang Park last year leaving the Broncos susceptible on the fringe of the top eight with only two wins from their last eight matches.

Dogs skipper Andrew Ryan was thrilled with the win after admitting it had been a very disappointing season so far for the boys from Belmore.

"They were pretty much at full strength today, we really ripped in... just a great feeling for us, obviously a pretty disappointing season but we keep tearing in there for each other every week," he told ABC Grandstand.

Hazem El Masri was flawless off the kicking tee, nailing 4/4 conversions including one in the dying stages to seal the match with an eight-point margin.

"We have been going close the whole year except for a couple of games, it's kind of like we have won a semi-final today," he said.

"It's been very tough especially the last five weeks, we were building slowly... we were bound to get one and why not today and thank god a few things went our way."

Source: ABC 

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