It was a heartbreaking end to a competitive match, with the Bulldogs downed 18-14 against the St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 3 of the NRLW competition.
A try with just 30 seconds remaining gave the visitors the victory after missed field goal attempts cruelled the Bulldogs in a brave performance that included a number of try-saving tackles.
Hope Millard (Bulldog no.18), Monica Tagoai (Bulldog no.19), Paea Uilou (Bulldog no.20) and Anneka Wilson (Bulldog no.21) etched their names in Club history as the newest players to take the field in the Blue and White.
Match: Bulldogs v Dragons
Round 3 -
home Team
Bulldogs
5th Position
away Team
Dragons
6th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
On the other end of the scale, veteran forward Holli Wheeler reached the 40-game milestone, doing so appropriately against her former club the Dragons.
It was a slow start for the Bulldogs, who found themselves on the back foot and trailing by 10 points after just seven minutes following a dream start for the visitors.
A break from Shaniece Monschau saw the Blue and White in prime position to return serve, and a clever kick from Captain Tayla Preston helped shift momentum to force a drop out.
From there, it was Tagoai who scored the first try for the side - and her first in the NRLW - after bursting through and taking two defenders with her over the line. Preston's conversion attempt just shaved the upright, with the Bulldogs trailing by a converted try.
Tagoai Scores on Debut!
Preston's boot served up another drop out, it was five-eighth Ashleigh Quinlan sending Adi Vani Buleki over to score her first try in the NRLW with a looping cut-out pass. Preston's conversion levelled the scores with just over ten remaining in the first half.
After holding their line with a number of brave efforts, the Bulldogs denied their opponents to keep the scores level at 10-all at the break.
Another period of defensive fortitude kept the try line in tact, however errors continued to cruel their opportunities in attack - and before long it was the visitors back in front through Hannah Southwell.
Buleki Scores in the Corner
Canterbury hit back through Andie Robinson, who dummied and sliced through the line to score her first try in Blue and White - levelling the scores once again after Preston's conversion attempt hit the upright with less than 20 minutes remaining.
A knock-on over the line sent a sigh of relief across Accor Stadium, before Bridget Hoy produced one of the plays of the game, chasing down Ella Koster to deny a certain try with just ten minutes remaining.
With both sides desperately searching for the winning points, field goal attempts went astray before the Dragons broke through to land the final blow with seconds remaining on the clock in a heartbreaking finish.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14 (Monica Tagoai, Adi Vani Buleki, Andie Robinson tries; Tayla Preston goal) def by St George Illawarra Dragons 18 (Indie Bostock, Keele Brown, Hannah Southwell, Kasey Red tries; Raecene McGregor goal)
