Mounties have lost top place on the VB NSW Cup ladder after a 35-20 loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday at Belmore Sports Ground.
Mounties went into the game coming off a bye and we're looking to make up for the previous rounds loss and in the first 10 minutes there were plenty of positives with several scoring chances just falling short and a high completion rate.
It was the Bulldogs however who posted the first try when they crossed in the 12th minute near the posts to lead 6-0.
Mounties continued to make inroads into the Canterbury defensive line but the Bulldogs were up to the task and in the 17th and 20th minutes they scored two scorching tries to leave Mounties facing a 16-0 deficit.
In the 27th minute Mounties found some joy when Kurt Robinson on debut put in a kick from dummy half close to the line and Willie Mataka was on hand to dive on the ball under the posts to give Mitch Cornish an easy conversion to make it 16-6.
Just as Mounties thought they were back in the game a deft kick into the in goal was pounced on by the Dogs chaser and suddenly the score was back out to 22-6.
Mounties needed a positive going into half time and with three minutes left on the clock it was provided by Gus Aiga who found himself on the end of some nice interchanges of passing and he dived over in the corner to make the half time score 22-10 when the conversion went wide.
In the 44th minute Canterbury extended their lead again when they crossed out wide to make it 28-10 but five minutes later Jack Ahearn put Mounties back in the hunt when he barged over next to the sticks to give Cornish an easy conversion and it was 28-16 with half an hour to go.
The next ten minutes was an end to end battle with the Dogs coming out on top. When a missed tackle from Josh McCrone saw the home team score near the posts to extend their lead to 34-16.
At the 74 minute mark a field goal attempt by Canterbury fell short and from the ensuing play big Rhys Kennedy make a big bust up field with Mitch Cronin on hand to finish off the play by scoring in the corner to make it 34-20 however after several attempts to force the play the clock ran out and in the 79th minute Canterbury finished off the scoring by slotting a field goal to end the game giving them a comfortable 35-20 win.
Next week the VB NSW Cup team travel to Newcastle for Country Round where they take on the Knights while the Massey and Shield teams head to Storey Park to take on Asquith.
Canterbury Bulldogs 35 (T Phillips 3, D Chisholm, D Fualalo, S Lane tries; L Dodd 4, H Ese'ese goals; Chishold field goal) defeated Mounties 20 (R Kennedy, J Ahearn, G Aiga, M Cronin tries; M Cornish 2 goals)
