Match Details
Match Date	15th May, 2009
Opponent	St George Illawarra
Result	Loss 18-20
Coach	Kevin Moore
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Kogarah (WIN Jubilee Oval)
Crowd	18,415
Referee	Tony Archer Ashley Klein

The Bulldogs' winning streak has come to an end at the hands of a controversial 20-18 defeat to St George Illawarra Dragons at WIN Jubilee Oval.

A contentious decision from video referee Steve Clark denied Jamaal Idris what would have been the match winning try in the final minute of the game.

Clark ruled that five-eighth Jamie Soward was obstructed as Luke Patten made a scything midfield break that eventually sent Idris over and brought the sell-out crowd to its feet.

The Dogs deserved better, having impressively defended their own line for large parts of the game, especially in the opening minutes as the Dragons maintained a constant assault.

After 20 minutes of barrage, the Dogs' defences were eventually cracked by a barrelling charge from prop Michael Weyman. Doing his State of Origin prospects no harm, Weyman threw himself over despite the attention of David Stagg and Michael Hodgson.

After Soward posted a penalty goal, the Dragons found the line again. Gary Warburton succumbed to a one-on-one strip from Matt Cooper and the ensuing set saw Ben Creagh stroll through untouched.

Creagh could have had a second try to his name just minutes later but was denied by video referee ruling of double movement.

From there, momentum swung the way of the Bulldogs and they posted their first points in the shadows of halftime.

Veteran halfback Brett Kimmorley sold a deft dummy to Mickey Paea and forced his way over the top of fullback Darius Boyd to score. Hazem el Masri, in his 300th first grade game, slotted the conversion to make it 14-6 at the break.

The Dogs' stoic defence was again called into action at the start of the second half. Centre Cooper was reeled in but a professional foul in the play-the-ball saw Kimmorley sent to the sinbin.

The red-and-whites desperately threw themselves at the line but it was the Bulldogs who went closest to scoring in the ten minutes that Kimmorley was stuck on the sideline.

Boom centre Idris bumped and twisted his way to the tryline in the 48th minute, only to have the ball dislodged by a stray knee just as he went to plant it.

However Ben Hannant, on the end of a short ball from Michael Ennis, had no such problems as he bustled his way over ten minutes later. El Masri's conversion cut the Dragons' lead to two.

A missed tackle from Ennis opened the door for prop Justin Poore to sprint to the line and seemingly secure the match for the Dragons with 12 minutes to play.

However 18-year-old Idris had other ideas taking flight to score from a Kimmorley bomb in the 71st minute.

With the Dragons ahead by two points as the match entered its final minute, an offload from Bryson Goodwin unleashed Patten and ended with Idris crossing with 33 seconds left on the clock.

But the celebrations of the team and the Bulldogs faithful were swiftly brought to an end by a decision that is certain to prompt discussion in the coming week.

Source: Evan Sieff

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