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Cronulla Sharks 18
Canterbury Bulldogs 16
Despite the close score line and close finish, we have seen one of the most error riddled games of the season this afternoon at Belmore Sports Ground as the Cronulla Sharks held on for a two point win against the Canterbury Bulldogs in what could be called controversial circumstances.
41 errors 21 for the Bulldogs and 20 for the Sharks marred the game, one that was at best frustrating to watch. Neither team could get any fluency in their attack and will need to improve if they wish to play finals football. In saying that the Sharks were the better team and deserved to win the game at the end of the day.
>>MATCH REPORT: Sharks beat Dogs to stay in top eight
For the Sharks, Michael Ennis was by far the best player on the ground and controlled the game in every way. Paul Gallen also played decently whilst Jack Bird added creativity and Ben Barba a spark off the bench.
For the Bulldogs, Brett Morris was probably close to their best whilst both Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson had their moments of brilliance. Frank Pritchard and Josh Morris also added enough to keep them close to the Sharks and right in the game.
For the first 10 minutes of the game it looked like it could have lived up to its game of the round status, no errors and good fluent football, however from there things just got worse and worse, before a game of football threatened to break out in the last 10 minutes.
In saying that, whilst the Sharks wont be happy with the error count it was the style of game they wanted to play. Hard fought and a battle of the forwards.
The scoring was opened by the Sharks early in the game with a long range effort in the 13th minute seeing Michael Gordon put first points on the board. Wade Graham was put through a hole just behind half way and he ran about 30 metres before passing to Gordon who streaked away for the first try of the game.
Five minutes later Josh Morris hit back on the left hand side for the Bulldogs after a nice ball from Trent Hodkinson.
From there, with no more scoring in the first half the game descended into a frustration.
After the break things only got worse, dropped ball and penalties breaking play down at every opportunity before the Sharks finally got close to the line and after some good work at dummy half from Ennis, Paul Gallen was able to cross next to the uprights.
Valentine Holmes was next to score in the 60th minute after the Sharks had stomped down field and Ennis on the run put a chip kick into the corner. It really didn’t look like, based on the way the Bulldogs were playing that there was any way back into the game from that position.
However when Frank Pritchard scored just 5 minutes later for the Bulldogs with a barge over try they got themselves back into the game and most importantly brought the crowd into it.
With roughly five minutes to go, and the Sharks holding a six point lead the Sharks came onto the attack and looked to set Valentine Holmes up for a field goal. With the kick going awfully wrong though, Josh Reynolds looked to put the pressure on and as a result was put on report and penalised for high contact.
As he put the penalty goal over, James Graham and the bulldogs could not believe it.
The Bulldogs might have scored through Michael Lichaa with two minutes to go but in the end it wasn’t enough to come back against the Sharks.
There will be few harder road trips in the NRL than the one that the Cronulla Sharks embark on in round 20 as they travel to the Belmore Sports Ground for part two of the Canterbury Bulldogs back to Belmore games.
Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 3:45pm (AEST) of this game.
Before this season, the historic Belmore Sports Ground hadn’t been used for top flight NRL action since the 1998 season. This year the Bulldogs are playing two games there. This one against the Sharks and one earlier in the year on a Monday Night where they had a very one sided victory against the Storm.
Coming into this game the Bulldogs have been in pretty decent form, winning three from their last four matches. It has left them sitting in sixth position on the ladder however a loss could seem them fall out of the top eight, something they won’t want to do at this stage of the season. Last week it was a 28 – 4 win over a sloppy Eels outfit.
Meanwhile, for the Sharks they have been in some outstanding form, pushing their way into the top eight after an awful start to the season. They have won five from their last six beating some competition heavyweights in the Sydney Roosters and North Queensland Cowboys along the way.
The team changes for this clash at Belmore are limited. The Bulldogs have only added Moses Mbye to their bench pushing Tim Browne back to 18th man whilst the Sharks have brought Ben Barba onto the bench, a six man one with Matt Prior and Anthony Tupou also included.
The Sharks have been playing a very good brand of rugby league in recent times, running hard up the middle, relying on good defence and scoring enough points through some very well run plays to record wins. Jack Bird has been brilliant in the halves whilst Valentine Holmes has continued to be one of the best players on the field week in and week out.
It is these two players the Bulldogs will have to stop, Bird and Holmes if they want to win this, however they have to be able to win the battle in the middle of the ground first and foremost.
It is this battle, of the forwards where the Bulldogs can win this game. With their monster forward pack both in the starting team and on the bench it sets things up for the likes of Trent Hodkinson, Josh Reynolds, Brett Morris and Moses Mbye to combine and do the rest. If they spend enough time near the Sharks line they will score enough points to win. It is as simple as that really.
Prediction
It should be a close game, a very good one to watch between two firing teams, however it is just about impossible to tip against the Bulldogs at Belmore.
Bulldogs by 8.
Join The Roar for live scores and commentary of this game from 3:45pm (AEST).