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 Archive > Year > 2007 > Nrl Telstra Premiership
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Finals Week 1
North Queensland Cowboys 20 d. Bulldogs 18 |
 
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 Click the match link for full match details including teams, scoring details, articles and more Fri September 7 2007, 8:30PM NZST GMT+12 Fri: New Zealand Warriors 10 l. Parramatta Eels 12 at Mt Smart Stadium, Penrose, Auckland (NZ) Sat September 8 2007, 6:30PM AEST GMT+10 Sat: North Queensland Cowboys 20 d. Bulldogs 18 at Dairy Farmers Stadium, Kirwan, Townsville (QLD) Crowd: 24,004 Sat September 8 2007, 8:30PM AEST GMT+10 Sat: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 30 d. South Sydney Rabbitohs 6 at Brookvale Oval, Brookvale, Sydney (NSW) Sun September 9 2007, 4:00PM AEST GMT+10 Sun: Melbourne Storm 40 d. Brisbane Broncos 0 at Olympic Park, Melbourne (VIC) Crowd: 15,552  Cowboys win arm wrestle to make it six straight Sat September 8, 2007 The Cowboys have kept their end-fo-year run alive with a heart-stopping 20-18 win over the Bulldogs at Dairy Farmers Stadium. A game played at true finals intensity, the Dogs had the better of the early exchanges with some big runs and solid defence. However, as is often the case, the Cowboys scored the opener against the run of play through the magical trio of Bowen, Payne and try-scorer Thurston. Thurston made no mistake with the conversion to give the home side the lead 6-0. The Dogs again looked flat and signs of last week's demolition were ominous when the Dogs right-side defence overread the play from dummy half, going for Thurston and leaving veteran Paul Bowman with a simple dummy and run for the Cowboys second try. Thurston again made no mistake and the Cowboys looked in total control at 12-0 after 20 minutes. Finally, the Dogs showed why the have more linebreaks than any other side with a fantastic burst down the left, only for Willie Tonga to be run down short of the line by Matt Bowen. After Willie Mason nearly crashed over, it looked like the Cowboys would turn the Bulldogs away, but a great Sherwin kick followed up by a fantastic take from Darryl Millard saw the Dogs get on the board. El Masri made no mistake and it was game on at 12-6. It only took 4 more minutes for the Bulldogs to get the scores level, with a strong try to Willie Tonga. El Masri took an eternity to kick, but was successful. In and around the two Bulldogs tries, they bombed 2 others through Matt Utai and Willie Tonga dropping passes after long linebreaks. Eventually, the deadlock was broken when a controversial penalty was given to the Bulldogs. Mark O'Meley offloaded the ball back for Bulldogs half Brent Sherwin, but it was called stripped by referee Paul Simpkins. The Dogs elected to kick the penalty and they led 14-12 after 33 minutes. Ben Roberts continued to be a threat to the Cowboys defence, making linebreaks and setting up outside men nicely. His form has been down of late, but tonight he's stepped up. Aaron Payne and Carl Webb have been excellent for the Cowboys, but Thurston and Bowen are still the outstanding players and hold the Cowboys fate in their hands. Thurston elected to kick a penalty after a holding down penalty against the Bulldogs Mark O'Meley and Lee Te Maari. The scores were levelled at 14 all, and it stayed that way until halftime. The second half started at a frentic pace, and the Cowboys looked the goods in the early exchanges, but couldn't get across the line. On the back of Bulldogs handling errors compounded by penalties, the Cowboys finally cracked the Dogs defence through some lovely work from Jason Smith. His sleight of hand gifted Thurston his second try and the Cowboys led 20-14 after 52 minutes. The Cowboys continued to have the better of everything ... field position, penalties and posession as the Dogs defended grimly. Turnovers compounded by penalties were killing the Dogs, and the Cowboys looked in complete control. However, against the run of play,. the Bulldogs broke free thanks to a fantastic Andrew Ryan run, finding Luke Patten in support who turned Matt Bowen inside out to score in the corner. In what proved to be the most critical kick of the night, El Masri failed to curve the ball back enough from the sideline and the score remained 20-18. All Dogs momentum was lost through continued handling errors, poor options at the end of sets and penalties to the Cowboys. In fact, the Bulldogs solitary penalty in the second half was against the Cowboys when in posession ... Thurston lashing out after Reni Maitua hit him in a strong tackle 10 metres short of the Bulldogs line. The final penalty count was 12-4 to the home side. The error count was 11-10 witt the Bulldogs making most of their 11 when in their own half. Despite all of this, the Bulldogs had a chance to win the game in the last few minutes. Brent Sherwin put in a pin-perfect cross-field kick to Hazem El Masri, who had 30 metres to run. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs lack of pace proved vital when it counted, and El Masri was stopped centimetres short of the line, losing the ball and going into touch. It was the final straw in a frustrating night for El Masri and the Bulldogs. The Cowboys held on for the final minutes to record a fantastic win. Ultimately, their speed and ability to sustain pressure was too much for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs held Thurston in check for most of the match despite him scoring a double, but the class of veterans like Jason Smith and Paul Bowman showed that you have to do more than stop Thurston to beat the Cowboys. Matt Bowen was good in attack, but it was effort in defence that won the Cowboys the match. Bowen was responsible forsaving at least three tries, forcing dropped passes in the first half and making the match-saver on El Masri in the dying minutes. Luke Patten and Chris Armit were troubled with injury but finished the game strongly, with the former getting hit high by Cowboys forward Jacob Lillyman. Lillyman was put on report by referee Paul Simpkins, but shouldn't have much of a case to answer, likely to avoid suspension through a low-grade charge and an early guilty plea. However, the Cowboys look certain to lose Carl Webb, who limped off with what appeared to be a calf tear. Webb missed the 2005 finals series through injury, and looks like history might repeat itself. The Bulldogs now wait nervously to see if the Sea Eagles and the Storm can win to keep their season alive. The Cowboys will continue their late season charge for at least one more week. Cowboys side to take on Bulldogs Tue September 4, 2007 Source: www.cowboys.com.au Cowboys side to take on Bulldogs. Matt Bowen Ty Williams Ashley Graham Paul Bowman Ben Farrar Justin Smith Johnathan Thurston (c) Matt Scott Aaron Payne Carl Webb Sam Faust Matthew Bartlett Mark Henry INTERCHANGE David Faiumu Jason Smith Jacob Lillyman Ray Cashmere Neil Sweeney Coach: Graham Murray INJURED Luke O'Donnell (Season) Shane Tronc (Season) Steve Southern (Season Ankle) Sione Faumuina (Suspended) NORTH QUEENSLAND TOYOTA Young Guns Vs Tweed GRADE: Qld Wizard Cup elimination final 8/9/2007 2pm Langlands Park Toshio Laesini Brenton Bowen Brett Anderson Jamie Frizzo Scott Minto Jackson Nicolau Shane Muspratt Ben Vaeau Scott Smith John Frith Daniel Backo Scott Bolton Jimmy Anderson INTERCHANGE Col Wilkie Kieran Lander Greg Byrnes Ryan Bartlett Ray Thompson Coach: Matt Parish News sent by: www.cowboys.com.au
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