Match Details
Match Date	12th Jul, 2014
Opponent	Melbourne
Result	Win 6-4
Coach	Des Hasler
Captain	Michael Ennis
Venue	Melbourne (AAMI Park)
Crowd	13,149
Referee	Gerard Sutton Grant Atkins

In a game which turned into a defensive dogfight, it was right that Canterbury took home a vital win from their trip to Melbourne on Saturday night.

After taking the lead in the early minutes of the second half, the Bulldogs held the advantage for the rest of the match to beat the Storm 6-4 and keep in touch in the battle for the minor premiership.

The Storm had plenty of chances to score the winning try but were denied by their own decision making or brilliant tackling from the Bulldogs.

A penalty on Bulldogs centre Tim Lafai for pushing Marika Koroibete out of bounds with three minutes remaining gave Storm captain Cameron Smith the chance to tie the scores with a kick from the left touch line but he pushed his shot wide and the Bulldogs recovered the ball.

Smith created the first serious scoring chance with his side close to the line, putting in a grubber kick which he attempted to chase but appeared to be tripped by Bulldogs lock Greg Eastwood. With no whistle from the referee, the ball went back to the Bulldogs.

Eastwood almost set up his side’s first try with a surprise chip kick looking set to bounce into the path of his teammates before it trickled out of bounds.

A well-worked Storm attack in the 12th minute put Mahe Fonua in place to score but two Bulldogs defenders held him back.

Storm halfback Cooper Cronk showed just what the side had missed while he was out injured when his perfectly timed pass hit Kevin Proctor on the chest on 16 minutes and the big Kiwi did the rest, powering past the last defender and in for a try making it 4-0.

For all the Storm’s attacking chances, they couldn’t add to the score then coughed up the ball 30 metres from their own goal line but the Bulldogs’ sloppy passing killed off their opportunity.

The Storm had nothing to show from almost 20 minutes of dominance heading into half-time, with the home side up 4-0.

The Bulldogs started the second half with precision attacks repeatedly peppering the Storm’s defensive line before an offload from James Graham found its way to man mountain Sam Kasiano, who bulldozed his way to the line, reaching out to score.

Graham had copped jeers throughout the night as Storm fans still remember his notorious bite on Billy Slater in the 2012 grand final. Trent Hodkinson’s kick from in front made it 6-4 to the Bulldogs after 46 minutes.

Hodkinson’s boot continued to trouble the Storm, forcing two repeat goal-line drop-outs.

But Smith tried a short kick on the second occasion and it miraculously paid off, rolling the ball just over the minimum distance, where the Storm took possession and ran the ball back into the Bulldogs’ half.

The Storm finally made their first meaningful attack of the second half in the 65th minute, with a Ben Roberts grubber kick looking certain to be touched down by Koroibete, only for Bulldogs fullback Mitch Brown to dive in and knock it into touch.

The Storm managed to reach the try line twice in the last 10 minutes but each time the Bulldogs kept them from making the final pass or final thrust and stopped them from scoring the goahead try.

Source: The Sun Herald

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