The Goulburn Workers Bulldogs have booked their place in next week’s preliminary final in style after dispatching the Queanbeyan Kangaroos 42-12 at Workers Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs hit the front foot early after a Mitch Cornish 40/20 set up a perfect attack position for the home side, with the kicker finding a gap in the Roos defence to give his team an early 6-0 lead.
The Bulldogs were in again nine minutes later after a Tyler Cornish flick pass found its way to winger Steve Cummins who dived over in style.
It only got worse for the Kangaroos, with forward Josh Ayers being sent from the field for the rest of the match, leaving the away side with 12 men for the remaining 65 minutes.
The Cornish brothers kept running the show, with a lovely chip from Mitch bouncing up perfectly for Cummins, whose pass got knocked down by a Roos defender only to dribble into the goal area and be grounded by Chris Hart.
The local crowd continued to cheer on as Bulldogs forward Raeden Fonoti barged his way over the line right in-between the sticks to further their lead.
Tyson Greenwood helped the Bulldogs continue to pile on the score after diving over untouched right underneath the framework.
With three minutes left in the half, a run from Mitch Cornish found a pass to brother Nic, who laid another pass off to Izzy Tittor who strolled over the try line for the Bulldogs sixth try of the match and head to the sheds with a 32-0 lead.
The Bulldogs continued their form into the second half, with a one handed offload from Chris Hart making its way to Cummins who crossed for his second of the day.
With 18 minutes remaining, Roos forwards Nukurua Ngere barged his way over to score a consolation try for the away side and reduce the deficit.
The Roos got a second on the board thanks to fullback Kaine Pagura after spotting a gap down the left wing, scoring his 19th try of the season.
A perfectly timed grubber kick from Tyler Cornish caught a tired Queanbeyan defence off guard as Dylan Rota pounced onto the ball to score and wrap up the match.
The Goulburn Workers Bulldogs will head to Gungahlin next week to face either the Queanbeyan Blues or the Tuggeranong Bushrangers for a spot in the Grand Final, while the loss brings the Queanbeyan Kangaroos season to an end.
Goulburn Workers Bulldogs 42 (Tries: S Cummins 2, C Hart, M Cornish, T Greenwood, D Rota, R Fonoti, I Tittor; Goals: C Hart 5) d Queanbeyan Kangaroos 12 (Tries: K Pagura, N Ngere; Goals: T Whiley 2)
Article written by Michael Caruana
