The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have kept in touch with the top eight, after scraping their way to a 30-18 win over the Newcastle Knights at Cessnock Sportsground.
Both sides were looking to bounce back from narrow losses last week and after kicking off, the Knights controlled early sets. Back-to-back penalties after just three minutes allowed second-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon to crash over from a William Pearsall pass.
Down 4-0, discipline continued to prove costly for the Bulldogs with another penalty on the next set after the kick-off giving Newcastle another set inside the opposition’s red zone. On the fifth tackle, a cross-field kick was plucked out of the air in the left-side corner by Thomas Hughes to extend the lead to 8-0.
When the Bulldogs finally got some possession, they showed just how dangerous they could be in attack, striking back through Tyrone Phillips after several of his teammates slipped through some lazy defence from the Knights.
