2012: ROUND 24

vs Wests Tigers

Match Details
Match Date 17th Aug, 2012
Opponent Wests Tigers
Result Win
23-22
Coach Des Hasler
Captain Michael Ennis
Venue Homebush (ANZ Stadium)
Crowd 29,194
Referee Ben Cummins
Jared Maxwell

A Krisnan Inu field goal in golden point extra time has extended the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' streak to 12 wins in a row, defeating the Wests Tigers 23-22.

The Bulldogs looked to have the game wrapped up when Johnathan Wright crossed in the 74th minute but an Aaron Woods try in the 78th minute levelled the scores, setting up a grandstand finish where Inu was again the hero.

The Bulldogs were dominant in the game from the start, and looked to have opened the scoring in the 4th minute through centre Josh Morris, only for the video referee to call the play back for a knock on by Frank Pritchard.

It wasn't much longer before they did strike however, with Aiden Tolman finishing off a brilliant play that started with Krisnan Inu breaking down the left side and setting up Josh Reynolds on his inside. Reynolds was chased down by Tigers winger Marika Koroibete, but he was able to find Tolman, who crossed for his first try of 2012, and set up a 6-0 lead after eight minutes.

Things weren't sticking for the Tigers, with Koroibete going close in the 13th minute, but he was unable to reel in a Tim Moltzen pass. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 12-0 in the 16th minute, with Reynolds completing an amazing play that started with a Benji Marshall bomb hitting the ground.

Ben Barba picked up the ball, beat three Tigers and broke into the backfield where he found Kris Keating on his inside. Keating kicked ahead for Reynolds, who grubbered the loose ball ahead before planting down to send the crowd into a frenzy.

Josh Jackson was the next to go close for the Bulldogs in the 30th minute, losing the ball over the line, but it opened up a chance for the Tigers who took it with both hands. Koroibete scored for the visitors in the 33rd minute, getting on the end of a Robbie Farah cross field kick and forcing his way through two Bulldogs to score and narrow the gap to 12-6, the way it would stay until the break.

The Tigers needed to score first in order to keep themselves in the game, and did so in the 45th minute through Koroibete again. He looked certain to score two minutes earlier when Farah put him into the clear but he slipped 15 metres short of the line. Three tackles later he scored in the corner after some good hands but Tim Moltzen to narrow the gap to 12-10.

They almost went back to back in the 50th minute, when on the back of a Matt Utai line break from dummy half, Robbie Farah went himself, only for Ben Barba to save another try by holding the Tigers captain up.

The Bulldogs took full advantage of the Tigers' missed opportunity through Barba, as he backed up another break by Inu to score next to the posts and push their lead to 18-10 in the 56th minute.
While the Bulldogs dominanted, the Tigers set up a grandstand finish in the 71st minute when Marshall put Blake Ayshford into a hole, before backing up for an offload on his inside to narrow the gap to 18-16. That was until Tim Moltzen dropped the kick-off, giving the Bulldogs a scrum 10 metres out from the line. They almost sealed the game in the 74th minute, but Corey Payne was held up under the back dot before Johnathan Wright scored in the corner looking to seal the game 22-16.

Turning the game on its head again in the 78th minute, Aaron Woods crossed next to the posts to level the scores at 22-22, despite a great effort from Ben Barba to hold him up.

The game went to a heart-stopping golden point period, with Sam Kasiano charging down a Marshall field goal attempt, before Michael Ennis was ruled to have knocked the ball on in stripping it from Moltzen. Robbie Farah then missed the field goal attempt in the 84th minute to let the Bulldogs off the hook.

Both Inu and Keating had field goal attempts slice away to either side of the posts in extra time, while Robbie Farah missed two attempts himself before Krisnan Inu nailed a field goal with 58 second remaining on the clock.

Source: AAP

LINE UP
Player Position Tries Goals F Goals Points
Ben Barba Fullback 1 0 0 4
Jonathan Wright Wing 1 0 0 4
Sam Perrett Wing 0 0 0 0
Krisnan Inu Centre 0 3 1 7
Josh Morris Centre 0 0 0 0
Josh Reynolds Five Eighth 1 0 0 4
Kris Keating Half Back 0 0 0 0
Greg Eastwood Lock 0 0 0 0
Josh Jackson Second Row 0 0 0 0
Frank Pritchard Second Row 0 0 0 0
Aiden Tolman Front Row 1 0 0 4
Sam Kasiano Front Row 0 0 0 0
Michael Ennis Hooker 0 0 0 0
James Graham Replacement 0 0 0 0
Dale Finucane Replacement 0 0 0 0
Corey Payne Replacement 0 0 0 0
David Stagg Replacement 0 0 0 0
Total: 4 3 1 23