The Cootamundra Bulldogs have suffered their fifth loss in six games, falling 22 points to 8 to the Albury Thunder on Sunday afternoon at Les Boyd Oval.
Taking to the field without First Grade regulars Sam Bragg and Nikola Sovatabua through unavailability and injury, the Bulldogs also lost winger Jarryd Cook within the first 5 minutes of play.
Even without Sovatabua, who forms one half of their power couple in the front row with Tai Vaavale, the Bulldogs enjoyed good early field position amongst a mostly scrappy and error-ridden opening to the match, a theme which remained right throughout the contest.
A lovely long pass from Bulldogs halfback Joe Ward saw Harry Boxsell dive over in the corner to open the scoring for the Dogs and after 15 minutes of play the home side led for the first and what would be final time.
Albury winger Jordan Ercegovic was the beneficiary of a shift on the last play of the set straight after Cootamundra had been forced into touch on their first play of a kick return, and Thunder had evened scores up at 4 all.
It may have taken Albury 23 minutes to post their first points, but they had scored their second try not long after, when Siale Lavulavu found his way over in the opposite corner to his wing partner and with an unsuccessful conversion, the Thunder had an 8-4 lead which they would take into half time.
Spectators and fans from both sides barely had time to find their seats again after the break, when Albury let Cootamundra’s second half kick off bounce with Bulldogs centre Josh Harris toeing the ball ahead and diving over to bring the scores back level.
Both sides were guilty of a mountain of errors and sloppy penalties in the first half, meaning the game never reached any great heights and the second 40 minutes was no different, including Cootamundra not being able to complete their set after points, with the Thunder making the most of an opportunity attacking the Bulldogs line and a try to Ercegovic again gave Albury the lead.
The next period of the game saw both sides squander numerous attacking opportunities before Albury extended their lead to 16-8 through a pair of penalty goals.
With only 5 minutes left to play and inside Coota’s half again due to an unforced error, Albury five-eighth Lachy Munro ran the ball on the fifth tackle and managed to force the ball over the line to give the Thunder their first back-to-back wins of the season.
For the Bulldogs, none tried harder than lock Tom Miller, whilst Vaavale and Ward also impressed in an otherwise tough afternoon for the home side, as they now look likely to have to win at least two out of three remaining games to have any chance of playing finals football.
Cootamundra coach Luke Berkrey admitted his side lacked the energy to compete at their best against the Thunder, although he was still hopeful the Bulldogs could end the regular season strongly enough to secure a top 5 finish.
“We were disappointing again today; I thought we got out enthused. We had a few changes to our team that probably didn’t work, especially me moving to 6; I was disappointed with myself personally.” Berkrey acknowledged.
“We should be back to full strength for Young though, which is exciting. Our destiny is in our own hands now with the next 3 games, which is also exciting. We just need a good fortnight of training and get ready for our last home game to begin with and go from there.”
After starting the season with 3 straight wins, the Bulldogs now find themselves sixth on percentages, and in a three-way battle with Kangaroos and South City for fifth position, both of whom Cootamundra play in their final 3 rounds of the season.
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