RUGBY UNION
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BATHURST Bulldogs put some distance between themselves and a potential top-five usurper in Central West Rugby Union first grade with a comfortable 33-0 win over Cowra on Saturday at Ashwood Park.
Bulldogs were never headed in sloppy conditions, though in truth the field held up remarkably well given the sheer volume of rain that has fallen in the past fortnight.
The hosts scored five tries and more importantly, didn't have their line breached. The Eagles never looked likely to get through the blue and gold wall that stood in front of them.
Given that Cowra started the round within three points of Bathurst and coming into a tough stretch of matches against frontrunners Orange Emus and fourth-placed Dubbo 'Roos, it was an important win for Bulldogs.
"I'm very pleased with how we've controlled the game. Our set piece has been good and considering the conditions, our ball retention has been exceptional," Bulldogs coach Brian Roberson said.
"At one stage we strung together something like 10 or 12 phases in a row, which is fantastic for how wet the ground is.
"On a day like this field position is the most important factor in the game and that was something we dominated right through the match, and with that in mind, our decision making was also very good."
The signs were ominous for Cowra early on as they simply couldn't find a way to get the ball out of their half.
Bulldogs were camped inside their 22 metre zone, and converted it into points thanks to Alex Weal. He summed the conditions up perfectly when he found a tiny bit of space close to the line, getting low to the ground and letting the wet grass do the rest.
Though Kurt Weekes missed a sitter of a conversion to leave the score at 5-0, even at that stage it looked like a matter of time before he'd have a chance to make amends.
As Roberson alluded to, the Bulldogs' work in retaining the ball was first class. When they finally did have to kick for territory, they had a stroke of luck which helped enhance their lead.
A high kick from Scott Johnston was missed by the Cowra players and the ball bounced fortuitously for Bart Bogart to toe through. He managed to ground the ball to give his team a 10-0 lead, which Weekes extended to 12-0.
Cowra showed some real grit in the final 20 minutes of the first half to make sure that the margin didn't blow out any further, as they were clearly missing the services of Country Cockatoos representative Chris Miller.
The second half produced more of the same with Bulldogs constantly on the attack and Cowra having to repel them.
The simple science of fatigue dictated that something would have to give. It did.
As part of an impressive stint off the bench, Bulldogs replacement halfback Brad Glasson found a hole in Cowra's defensive line and crossed from close range. He then converted and the win and bonus point were all but sealed.
Adam Dwyer scored Bulldogs' fourth with 16 minutes remaining and Glasson picked up his second to take the margin beyond 30 points.
For Cowra, Quermy Warmerdam in the second row, Bill Cummins at five-eighth and flanker Jack Duff were among their best while Izaak Breen, Weal and Sam Roberson all earned high praise from the Bulldogs coach.
"Our attack has been non-existent today, and that is a bit of a result of the players we are without today," Cowra coach Tom Petty said.
"I thought early on our set pieces were pretty good, but we went downhill quickly and that's easy to do in those slippery conditions.
"We have a run of winnable games coming up with Narromine and Mudgee in the next two weeks, and if we can get points out of both of those we stay alive, but we'd have loved to have come over and got a win here. Now we're getting to the stage of relying on other results to help us out."
BATHURST BULLDOGS 33 (Brad Glasson 2, Alex Weal, Adam Dwyer, Bart Bogart tries; Brad Glasson 2, Kurt Weekes 2 conversions) defeated COWRA EAGLES 0