Match Report: No joy on farewell night for trio
In slippery conditions, there were a number of errors made early in the match, including from Johnson who dropped the ball in his first touch, no doubt still gathering his focus after running out to a rapturous applause to a stadium renamed in his honour for the evening. However, back-to-back errors to the Bulldogs then gave the Warriors a wealth of possession and they were able to capitalise when Marcelo Montoya went over on the left-hand side after a nice double-pump from Luke Metcalf caught the visiting defenders.
Metcalf was the creator again when another error from the Bulldogs gave the home side possession back, producing a short ball to Kurt Capewell who went on a powerful run back inside to burst through the line and out over the try line. Johnson kicked his second conversion for a 12-0 lead.
The Bulldogs got their opening points of first half after the Warriors gave up repeated six-agains, with Canterbury’s sweeping sideline-to-sideline play proving hard to handle, with Bronson Xerri go over on the left as the conditions took a turn for the worse, with Matt Burton unable to get close to the uprights, keeping the scores 12-4.
They went back-to-back when Stephen Crichton came out the better when contesting a kick against Capewell and claimed the ball to score.
They went ahead for the first time after Viliame Kikau slipped through defenders to make a break, finding Kurtis Morrin in support who ran in under the posts to score. Burton’s conversion was successful for a 16-12 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half.
Kurtis Morrin TryKurtis Morrin Try
Kurtis Morrin Try
However, momentum swung again and a poor pass option from the Bulldogs resulted in a turnover and the Warriors cashed in as the half-time break approached, with Wayde Egan going over next to the post, with Johnson again kicking a conversion which gave them the lead once more, going to the sheds up 18-16.
After the break, Burton got his side on the front foot early, kicking a 40/20 to put his side straight on the attack, but they weren’t able to use their opportunity immediately.
In a see-sawing half with plenty of talking points, including the Warriors losing centre Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to a failed HIA following a high tackle from Bulldogs captain Crichton which did not result in a sin bin, the Bulldogs were the first to score mid-way through the half, with Harry Hayes going over to put his side in the lead once more.
