Match Details
Match Date	27th Mar, 2009
Opponent	Gold Coast Titans
Result	Loss 12-20
Coach	Kevin Moore
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Gold Coast (Skilled Park)
Crowd	19,854
Referee	Jared Maxwell Alan Shortall

An error-prone Bulldogs outfit has been defeated 20-12 by the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park on Friday.

The Dogs were made to pay for surrendering possession at pivotal moments throughout the match, especially coming out of their own half.

They only trailed by two points with 20 minutes to go, but a converted try to Titans centre Esikeli Tonga in the 63rd minute allowed the home team to close out the match in front of a crowd of almost 20,000.

19-year-old Ben Barba started at five-eighth for the Dogs, at the expense of the benched Ben Roberts, while the Titans were without playmaker Scott Prince after he succumbed to a hamstring injury.

However makeshift halfback Preston Campbell made the Dogs' task no easier. He consistently showed composure and creativity in attack, fooling youngster Barba with a show-and-go on his way to the line in the 35th minute.

The Bulldogs had earlier opened the scoring courtesy of captain Andrew Ryan - barging over from close-range despite the attention of three defenders.

However the Titans soon hit back as a cross field bomb was deflected into the grateful hands of Luke O'Dwyer.

Despite a Hazem El Masri penalty, the Dogs went to halftime behind 10-6.

The Titans struck again only three minutes into the second half. Another cheap turnover gifted man-of-the-match Mat Rogers the chance to burrow through and extend the lead.

Yet the Bulldogs refused to lie down. In the 56th minute Ben Roberts staked his claim for the starting five-eighth position, putting Josh Morris into a gap, who in turn released winger Bryson Goodwin. El Masri's successful conversion narrowed the gap to just two points.

But it was close as the Dogs would get as they suffered their first loss of the 2009 season.
Lock David Stagg was once again impressive for the blue-and-whites, notching up 47 tackles and 7 offloads.

Source: AAP

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