Match Details
Match Date	8th Aug, 2009
Opponent	Canberra
Result	Win 23-20
Coach	Kevin Moore
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Homebush (ANZ Stadium)
Crowd	13,310
Referee	Jared Maxwell Bernard Sutton

Brett Kimmorley put in a masterful performance as the Bulldogs held on to claim a nailbiting 23-20 win over the Canberra Raiders at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

Raiders' wing Daniel Vidot crossed in the corner with eight minutes left on the clock and Terry Campese had a chance to snare the lead with his sideline conversion attempt, but missed to the right.

The Dogs managed to hold out as Canberra's final attacking raids fell flat before Hazem El Masri kicked a penalty after the final siren to secure the dramatic win.

"The first half was strong but in the second half we had some poor missed tackles, individuals came up with too many errors and Canberra were good enough to take advantage. Fortunately we managed to get through it and get the points," said Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore.

32-year-old Kimmorley wound back the clock as he turned the Raiders around with his kicking game while tormenting them with ball-in-hand.

The diminutive halfback unleashed a wicked two-man cut-out ball for wing Bryson Goodwin to open the scoring in the 6th minute and timed a pass to perfection to send David Stagg over twelve minutes later.

Canberra five-eighth Campese hit back with a solo effort grubbering in behind the line and regathering for the try.

Goodwin had his second try of the match, and his 18th of the season, as he planted an outstretched hand on a Ben Roberts' grubber kick.

In the shades of halftime, Kimmorley summed up the situation then coolly slotted what turned out to be a definitive field goal, making the score 15-6 at the break.

As the Bulldogs blew open scoring chances in the second half, the Raiders were creating them from nothing.

Makeshift Canberra centre Joel Thompson pushed off Josh Morris, fended Andrew Ryan and stepped out of the grasp of Luke Patten on his way to the line in the 42nd minute.

Kimmorley capped off his dominant performance with a try six minutes later running across the defensive line and then through it with ease.

But just as it looked like the Dogs had put the game to bed, the Raiders hit back on both flanks through tries to Phil Graham on the left and Vidot on the right.

But the Dogs had done just enough.

"We're in a habit of winning the close games. You don't get too many lopsided semi-finals so it's a good trait to have looking ahead," said coach Moore.

However captain Andrew Ryan is not thinking about finals football just yet.

"It's not about finals; it's about putting together a complete 80-minute performance. We'll have to do that next week against the Cowboys otherwise they'll put plenty of points past us," he said.

The irrepressible David Stagg finished the match with 53 tackles, the players' player award and a severe headache courtesy of the knee of Raiders lock Josh Miller.

Source: Evan Sieff

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