Bulls Charge to Victory in Goulburn

The Gungahlin Bulls have claimed a dominant 30-14 victory over the Goulburn City Bulldogs at Workers Arena.

Gungahlin’s Jesse Croker and Charlie Henderson were instrumental in the big win, with Croker racking up four tries, while Henderson was pivotal with four try assists.

It wasn’t the ideal start for Goulburn as five-eighth Isaac Walker put too much on the opening kick off which travelled over the dead ball line, gifting Gungahlin with early field position.

The Bulls capitalised straight away with fullback Charlie Henderson putting a grubber through for winger Jesse Croker to score in the first set of the game.

Walker made up for his mistake, earning his side a repeat set by putting a bomb up which was dropped and planted within Gungahlin’s goal line.

The home side didn’t waste their first scoring opportunity, as fullback Nicholas Cornish beat multiple defenders from close range to cross for their first try.

With the scores reading 6-all after 10 minutes, it was looking like it’d be an end-to-end contest.  

Gungahlin found themselves back in attacking zone, which Henderson summed up beautifully with a cut out ball to Croker, who scored his second of the afternoon.  

With the momentum in Gungahlin’s favour, the Henderson-Croker connection struck again, as the crafty fullback put up a perfectly weighted chip kick for Croker to gather and secure a first half hat-trick.

Heading into the sheds, the visiting Bulls boasted a 16-6 lead.

After a back-and-forth start to the second half, the Bulls added to their lead through lock forward Jason Brown burrowing his way over.

With everything going the way of the Bulls up to this point, Henderson continued to haunt Goulburn’s defence, as he threw another pinpoint accurate cut-out pass to winger Jeff Pehara, who finished in the corner.

The score was starting to become out of reach for the Bulldogs, as they trailed 26-6 after 50 minutes.

But the Bulls gifted Goulburn an opportunity, knocking the ball on off the restart.

A perfectly executed set piece off the scrum saw Jesse Lacey score in the corner, reducing the deficit to 20 points.

The Bulldogs began to dominate possession and eventually got another one back, as Walker threw a cut-out pass to Lacey, who finished in the corner again.

With just over 15 minutes left and the score at 26-14 in favour of the Bulls, a late comeback was still within reach.

However, Gungahlin put the result beyond doubt as Croker crossed in the corner to complete a remarkable four-try haul.

The Bulls held out for the remaining 10 minutes to secure a commanding 30-14 victory.

Gungahlin will look to close out their season with back-to-back wins next week, as they have the bye in the final round.

While Goulburn aim to bounce back and finish their 2024 campaign on a positive note, with two games remaining.