Match Details
Match Date	5th Aug, 2011
Opponent	North Queensland
Result	Win 14-6
Coach	Jim Dymock
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Homebush (ANZ Stadium)
Crowd	8,654
Referee	Jared Maxwell Gavin Morris

An inspired effort in defence combined with some clinical finishing has seen the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs defeat the third placed North Queensland Cowboys 14 points to 6 at ANZ Stadium.

The win over one of three top eight teams the Bulldogs are drawn to face over the final five weeks of the regular season saw the home side lift the Reconciliation Cup for a third straight year.

It leaves the Bulldogs leapfrog Penrith into ninth on the NRL ladder on 22 competition points, with the Panthers away to Melbourne this weekend.

The victory also keeps the home side's hopes alive for season 2011, with clashes against 12th placed Cronulla (away next Monday night), second placed Manly (away round 24), eighth placed Newcastle (home round 25) and 14th placed Canberra (home round 26) still to come.

Defence was the bedrock on which the win was built for the Dogs, with Frank Pritchard leading the way.

The opening quarter of the match was notable mainly for the intensity of hits coming from the Bulldogs, Pritchard in particular devastating close to his own line, putting Ray Thompson and Dallas Johnson on their backs in brutal fashion.

On the negative side, fellow big hit merchant Joel Romelo was placed on report in just the second minute of play for a lifting tackle that rattled the cage of Cowboys wunderkind Tariq Sims.

In attack, the Bulldogs had two clear chances before they eventually opened their account.

After being piggy backed into Cowboys territory on the back of a flop penalty against Johnson, Josh Reynolds caught the defence napping to dive over from dummy half for a four nil lead after 26 minutes.

The try was Reynolds third in just six games this season and came after he was elevated to the starting side in place of the injured Ben Roberts, who failed to overcome a nasty cork suffered in the loss to the Roosters six days prior.

Reynolds place on the bench was taken by ever reliable NSW Cup captain Trent Cutler, who suited up for his first NRL match in 1,471 days when he came on in the second half, having last graced the top grade in round 20 of the 2007 season.

The Bulldogs largely dictated terms and they stretched their lead on half time after an offside penalty against the Cowboys whilst in possession.

Steve Turner made no mistake with the shot from 35 metres, taking the Dogs lead out to six nil after his earlier conversion attempt hit the upright and was waved away.

Comeback kid Josh Morris was denied a try on his return to the NRL soon after the resumption, video referee Steve Clark ruling knock on after the centre had scooped up a sweetly placed grubber in behind the line from Ben Barba.

It wouldn't matter long, with Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson doing some great work from 45 metres out to put Turner away for the Bulldogs second try in the 48th minute.

Encouragingly, Turner was just one of three options in support for Hodkinson as the Bulldogs skipped away to a 12-nil lead.

A second Turner penalty stretched the Bulldogs lead to 14 before the Cowboys finally got themselves on the board, Brent Tate steaming onto a nice ball to score in the 69th minute to narrow the gap to eight points at 14-6.

It would be as close as the Cowboys would get, the Bulldogs holding on to close out their ninth win of the season, keeping themselves in the hunt for a finals berth with four matches still to play.

Source: AAP

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