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Cowboys defeat Bulldogs in battle of the spoon
Written by: Ethan JamesAug 9, 2008 10:15pm
The North Queensland Cowboys have moved one step away from the dreaded wooden spoon with a comprehensive 36-12 win over the Canterbury Bulldogs in front of a small Suncorp Stadium crowd. The Cowboys produced some enterprising footy to break their thirteen game losing streak and secure only their fourth win of the season. On the other hand, poor ball handling and a lack of discipline cost the Bulldogs dearly. North Queensland got off to a dream start when rampaging front rower Carl Webb barged his way over the line in the third minute. The Cowboys increased their lead to 8-0 thanks to a try from winger Ty Williams, who showed great hands to pick up a Sione Faumuina chip kick and dive over in the corner. Canterbury continued to shoot themselves in the foot with basic errors and penalties and they were made to pay in the 27th minute when Ray Cashmere crashed over. John Williams slotted his first successful conversion of the evening to give his side a 14-0 advantage. The Cowboys should have led by more at the end of the first stanza if not for a controversial double movement ruling against halfback Travis Burns. However, to their credit, the Bulldogs posted the opening try of the second half to exciting rookie Ben Barba. The young fullback used some brilliant footwork to get past Ashley Graham, showing he’ll be a player to watch in the future. But the Cowboys continued to throw the ball around, coming up with a try to LeagueUnlimited’s man of the match Sione Faumuina in the 61st minute. Ashley Graham continued the carnage when he crossed off a nicely worked set piece. Further four-pointers to Williams and Burns gave the Cowboys a comprehensive 32-6 lead with less than 120 seconds to go on the clock. But the Bulldogs' Andrew Emelio was able post a consolation try on the stroke of fulltime when he finished a length of the field movement started by the talented Barba. The Cowboys take on the Titans on the Gold Coast next week, while the Bulldogs face a tough challenge against the Penrith Panthers at CUA Stadium on Saturday night. Match Results North Queensland Cowboys 36 def Canterbury Bulldogs 12 Round 22 - Saturday August 9th, 2008 7:30pm Venue: Suncorp Stadium Referee: Bernard Sutton Touch Judges: Phil Haines, Rod Lawrence Video Referee: Graeme West Half time: Cowboys 14-0 Crowd: 8,549 Canterbury Bulldogs 12 Tries: Ben Barba, Andrew Emelio Goals: Hazem El Masri (2/2) North Queensland Cowboys 36 Tries: Carl Webb, Ty Williams (2), Ray Cashmere, Sione Faumuina, Ashley Graham, Travis Burns Goals: John Williams (4/7) LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match 3 Points: Sione Faumuina (Cowboys) 2 Points: Travis Burns (Cowboys) 1 Point: Ben Barba (Bulldogs) LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary Good evening and welcome to tonight's coverage of the clash between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium. This game has been dubbed the battle for the wooden spoon and it will be interesting to see the size of crowd up here in Brisbane. The Cowboys are looking to avoid their fourteenth consecutive defeat while, after a tumultuous last month, the Bulldogs will be hoping that their footy can do the talking. The two teams are also playing off for the Reconciliation Cup. The teams are as follows.. For Canterbury, Heka Nanai replaces the injured Matt Utai on the wing. The Cowboys are as per program. BULLDOGS: 1. Ben Barba 2. Hazem El Masri 3. Daryl Millard 4. Andrew Emelio 19. Heka Nanai 6. Ben Roberts 7. Daniel Holdsworth 8. Jarrad Hickey 9. Corey Hughes 10. Chris Armit 11. Nick Kouparitsas 12. Andrew Ryan 13. Reni Maitua Interchange: 14. Brad Morrin 15. Lee Te Maari 16. Fred Briggs 17. Aaron Groom COWBOYS: 1. Ashley Graham 2. Ty Williams 3. Mark Henry 4. Ben Harris 5. John Williams 6. Sione Faumuina 7. Travis Burns 8. Carl Webb 9. Aaron Payne 10. Shane Tronc 11. Luke O’Donnell 12. Dayne Weston 13.Steve Southern Interchange: 14. Ben Farrar 15. Luke Harlen 16. Ben Vaeau 17. Ray Cashmere Both sides making their way on to the field now in cool conditions. 1 min: KICKOFF! The Cowboys to get first use of the football. 2 min: Daniel Holdsworth boots the ball out on the full, handing the Cowboys prime attacking position with a scrum on the 30 metre line. 3 min: TRY North Queensland Cowboys Big Carl Webb steamrolls through some poor opposition defence off a nice inside pass from Faumuina. The Cowboys off to the perfect start here. Conversion attempt by John Williams unsuccessful. North Queensland Cowboys 4-0 8 min: Webb goes close to scoring again but knocks on. 10 min: PENALTY Cowboys after the Bulldogs were ruled offside. North Queensland hot on the attack again. 15 min: TRY North Queensland Cowboys Brilliant try to the Cowboys. A well placed chip kick down the left flank from Faumuina, Ty Williams shows enough pace to beat El Masri to the ball and ground it in the corner. Conversion attempt by John Williams unsuccessful. North Queensland Cowboys 8-0 18 min: North Queensland throwing the ball around at will. The 'Dogs have no answers at the moment. 21 min: PENALTY Cowboys again for offside. The Bulldogs have to defend their own line once more. 22 min: Ray Cashmere held up on the fourth tackle. 23 min: TRY North Queensland Cowboys Cashmere crashes over this time! It's just too easy for the Cowboys at the moment thanks to a 60% share of possession. Conversion attempt by John Williams successful. North Queensland Cowboys 14-0 26 min: Ben Barba flirts with the touch line but the ball is ruled to have been hit out by a Cowboys player. Canterbury to receive the scrum feed 10 metres out from the North Queensland line. 25 min: Barba inexplicably grubbers on the second tackle, giving the Cowboys the ball. 29 min: Some exciting end to end footy, both teams playing with plenty of enterprise. 31 min: VIDEO REF Possible try to the Cowboys.. 31 min: NO TRY Aaron Payne ruled to have knocked on but the Cowboys get a penalty after Canterbury fullback Barba hit Ashley Graham high in the lead up play. 33 min: Cowboys inside the Dogs half following a 20 metre tap. 34 min: Referee Bernard Sutton gives captain Andrew Ryan a stern lecture following yet another penalty to the Cowboys. 36 min: Bulldogs forced to make their second consecutive goal line dropout after a deft kick from Faumuina. 38 min: VIDEO REF Possible try to the Cowboys.. 38 min: NO TRY Double movement ruled against Travis Burns even though his entire upper body finished over the line. A tad controversial that one. 39 min: The Bulldogs drop the ball on their own 40m line. Cowboys on the attack yet again. 40 min: Halftime here at Suncorp with the Cowboys leading the Bulldogs 14-0. North Queensland are well and truely on top at the moment thanks to 65% possession. Canterbury seemed determined to give away penalties at every opportunity and have been particularly poor in defence, missing 24 tackles. 41 min: KICK OFF! Cowboys restart things and will run left to right. 41 min: Ben Roberts steps through some flimsy Cowboys attempts but is caught by the cover defence. 42 min: Bulldogs get the scrum feed on the attack after winger David Williams spilled a high bomb. 44 min: Andrew Emelio is bundled into touch on the first tackle, some good defence from the Cowboys. 46 min: Bulldogs run the ball on the last tackle but Travis Burns wraps up the ball forcing a turn over. 48 min: TRY Canterbury Bulldogs Wow! Ben Barba makes a break on the halfway mark before showing great speed and footwork to turn fullback ash Graham inside out. Conversion attempt by Hazem El Masri successful. North Queensland Cowboys 14-6 57 min: Cowboys drop the footy 10 meters out from the line. Some errors starting to creep into the Cowboys game. 59 min: The Bulldogs return the favour and make an error of their own. It's easy to see why these two teams are at the foot of the ladder. 61 min: TRY North Queensland Cowboys Sione Faumuina pounces on a perfectly weighted gurbber from Travis Burns with no defence in sight. Conversion attempt by John Williams successful. North Queensland Cowboys 20-6 63 min: Cowboys find touch, forcing Canterbury to work it out from their own line. 66 min: Barba does well to field a low kick in the ingoal but is bundled into touch. Cowboys with the scrum feed five metre out. 67 min: TRY North Queensland Cowboys A well rehearsed set play sees Payne break from the base of the scum and throw an inside pass to Ashley Graham who simply strolls over the line. Conversion attempt by John Williams successful. North Queensland Cowboys 26-6 68 min: Bulldogs come up with the ball thanks to a short kick off. 70 min: Cowboys putting some second phase play together, they'd be enjoying this. 72 min: Another spark of brilliance from Ben Barba who make a break before kicking ahead to El Masri. Unfortunately for Canterbury, the ball beats him in to touch. 74 min: TRY North Queensland Cowboys Traivs Burns slices through the middle of the ruck and sells the dummy to the fullback to dive over under the sticks. Conversion attempt by John Williams successful. North Queensland Cowboys 32-6 76 min: PENALTY Bulldogs after O'Donnell tackled Barba in mid-air. 78 min: TRY North Queensland Cowboys Some razzle dazzle now from North Queensland. Faumuina finds a gaping hole in the defence and draws the defence before passing to Harris who then finds Ty Williams. Williams steps and touches down in the corner. Conversion attempt by John Williams unsuccessful. North Queensland Cowboys 36-6 80 min: VIDEO REF Possible try to the Bulldogs.. 80 min: TRY Canterbury Bulldogs Legnth of the field try! Ben Barba picks up the ball on his own line, chip kicks over the top for himself before finding Hughes in support. Hughes then toes it ahead and Emelio successfully grounds the ball in the ingoal. Conversion attempt by Hazem El Masri successful. North Queensland Cowboys 36-12 FULLTIME: The North Queensland Cowboys have run out convincing winners over the Bulldogs by 36-12.
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