The Canterbury Bulldogs’ Canterbury Cup side defeated the Newtown Jets in a dominant 40-28 performance at ANZ Stadium.
The contest promised to entertain as the Bulldogs, bolstered by their returning winger Jayden Okunbor, set out for their fifth straight win, while the Jets pursued their third straight.
It was the Jets who piled the early pressure on the Bulldogs, scoring just after five minutes through Tyrone Phillips, who ran right through a hole in the home side’s defence to touch down between the posts.
Halfback Braydon Trindall converted to give his side an early 6-0 lead.
It was almost inevitable that returning winger Jayden Okunbor would score on his return, with the winger notching his side’s first try in the corner to take the margin to just two points.
Morgan Harper successfully added the two to level the game.
It didn't take long for the Dogs side to double their lead, as Danny Fualalo barged through the Jets’ defence to score near the posts.
Harper again converted easily to take the Dogs’ lead to 12-6.
The Bulldogs looked to capitalise on their momentum, however a disallowed try due to a forward pass led to a try for the Jets, through William Kennedy who was able to score in the corner to decrease the Dogs’ lead to just two.
Trindall failed to convert this time, keeping the margin at two.
The home side again would increase their lead to a converted try, through a last tackle shift that saw Raymond Faitala-Mariner go over near the sideline.
The margin remained a converted try after Harper failed to convert for the first time in the game.
A constantly threatening Okunbor further increased the Dogs’ lead just four minutes later, catching a bomb to score his second in the corner.
Harper failed to convert again, keeping his side’s lead at ten points.
With three minutes left of the first half, the Bulldogs added yet another four points to an already high scoring game, through winger Christian Crichton, who finished a Canterbury spread brilliantly in the corner.
Harper failed to convert for a third time as the Bulldogs went into the sheds leading the Jets 24-10.
The second half scoring began in similar fashion to the first, with the Jets drawing first blood through William Kennedy’s second try of the game near the sideline.
Trindall successfully converted to take the score to 24-16.
The Bulldogs quickly responded yet again through another double, this time for Christian Crichton, who touched down in the corner after another Canterbury set play.
Jesse Marschke took over the kicking duties, but was unsuccessful in his first attempt, leaving the margin at two converted tries.
The Bulldogs looked dominant as they further extended their lead to sixteen points through a ricocheted kick, which landed for Renouf To’omaga to put a hand on for his side’s seventh try of the game.
Marschke converted on his second attempt to take Canterbury’s lead to three converted tries.
The Bulldogs side would not slow down as they scored their eighth try of the game through Morgan Harper, before Marschke converted again, taking the score to 40-16.
The Jets were able to score two late consolation tries through Siosifa Talakai and Braydon Trindall, both of which were converted by the halfback, ending the game with a 12-point margin.
The Canterbury Bulldogs dominated the majority of the game, as they pushed themselves up to first place for the time, defeating the Newtown Jets 40-28.
