The Bulldogs Holden Cup side have this afternoon been defeated by the Broncos 30-24 at ANZ Stadium.
The young pups went to the half-time break leading 20-8 but a strong second half put the Broncos in front and they managed to hold on for the win.
Coach Andy Patmore managed to maintain his 17-man squad selected earlier in the week and with that it only took the young pups four minutes to open the scoring. Early in the set the Bulldogs decided to spread the ball wide and with the ball ending in the hands of Aaron Pene and he went over to score in the north-west corner. Halfback Brendan Cox couldn’t convert with the score staying at 4-nil.
The Broncos were able to answer straight back in the sixth minute with fullback Jayden Nikorima crossing for their first of the afternoon. The slippery conditions didn’t favour the kickers and the try was not converted to leave the scores level at 4-all.
It was up the middle that the Bulldogs were able to next make their mark. Lock forward Jack Creighton was the man who barged his way forward, broke the line and went over to score 10m to the left of the uprights. Cox couldn’t convert with the score staying at 8-4
The tit-for-tat match continued with the Broncos crossing four minutes later, in the 22nd minute. It was winger Paul Byrnes who scored after a 30m run down the right flank. Duncan Paia’aua couldn’t convert with the scores level at 8-all.
The young pups managed to cross two more times before the break with Robbie Kamoto and Denzel King went over with Cox able to convert both to give the Bulldogs a 20-8 lead at the half-time break.
The second half saw the Broncos dominate the majority of the half with the men from north of the border three times in the opening 20 minutes to level the scores at 20-all.
From there they continued pushing forward and jumped into the lead for the first time in the match. But as the match started, it was very tit-for-tat and Cox skipped through to score and level the scores. He couldn’t convert leaving the scores level.
The Broncos controlled the final stages and with the Bulldogs compressed, they shifted it to the left and winger Tom Opacic went over to score. Jayden Nikorima rubbed salt into the wound, converting from the sideline to secure the victory.
BRONCOS 30 def. BULLDOGS 24
