Match Details
Match Date	8th Aug, 2010
Opponent	Newcastle
Result	Loss 6-30
Coach	Kevin Moore
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Newcastle (EnergyAustralia Stadium)
Crowd	17,316
Referee	Gavin Badger Ashley Klein

Newcastle delivered last rites to Canterbury's NRL finals hopes while keeping its own flame flickering with a 30-6 hammering of the Bulldogs at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Knights proved Monday night's decisive win over Manly was no fluke, backing it up to move back to within two wins of the top eight, but they are running out of rounds to bridge the gap.

Inconsistency has cost them this season, with strong wins over the Sydney Roosters, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sea Eagles mixed with disappointing defeats to Cronulla, Canberra and North Queensland.

They will probably need to win all four of their remaining games to sneak in, beginning with a tough trip across the Tasman next Sunday.

They have given themselves a chance thought with this week's four-point haul, and coach Rick Stone was delighted.

"It has been a good week, absolutely," he said.

"There's no doubt backing up what we did on Monday night was important for ourselves and what we think we need to achieve in the last few weeks of the competition.

"The boys had a great result. I thought their goalline defence was super."

The Bulldogs could not have been further away from their impressive 32-12 victory over South Sydney last weekend.

They looked mostly clueless in attack and their fifth-tackle options lacked imagination, with the Knights often left to clean up easy kicks into the in-goal area.

Adam MacDougall pulled to within one try of Timana Tahu's club record of 82 when he profited from some charity from try-scoring machine Akuila Uate, repaying the veteran centre with one on a platter after he bumped him off a certain four-pointer on Monday evening.

"He owes me about 10, that's what he told me during the week," MacDougall joked to Grandstand.

"So if he gives me back nine more I'll be happy."

MacDougall paid tribute to his side's defence, which kept the visitors scoreless until the 68th minute.

"I can't speak highly enough of our defence, particularly on the edges the last six to eight weeks we've been spectacular," MacDougall told Grandstand.

"Apart from the Canberra game (a 52-18 defeat three weeks ago), we've really turned the corner defensively."

He also said he was close to determining his future.

"Really it's out of my hands now, it's in my manager's hands," he said.

"The body's willing to go round again, now it's really up to whether there's enough incenctive financially for me to go around again."

The Knights had the points wrapped up early in the second half when rugby-bound winger Cooper Vuna strolled over, given the benefit of the doubt by video referee Phil Cooley even though it appeared he may have knocked on in contesting the ball with opposite number Steve Turner.

Gidley's excellent sideline conversion made it 24-0 after the Knights had led 18-0 at the break.

Halves Kurt Gidley and Jarrod Mullen were impressive for the Knights, far outpointing opposite numbers Brett Kimmorley and Ben Barba, although the latter did sneak over to put the Bulldogs on the board with some tricky footwork when the game was well gone.

Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said the future remained bright for his club despite the fact their finals charge is over.

"Our depth, I think, is going to be a lot better, our NYC (youth team) have had a tremendous turnaround after losing their first six or seven games, they're unbeaten over the last 12 weeks," he said.

"I think there's a lot of positives around the club and I think the next month is critically important for us as a club, for this playing group to finish the year on a really strong note, [to] show the fans what we're capable of and give them some hope for the future."

Source: ABC Sport

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