League: Bulldogs hold off Raiders for trial win

BRISBANE - The Bulldogs held off a spirited comeback from Canberra to win their NRL trial 24-16 at suburban Logan on Saturday night.

Down 18-0 towards the end of the first half, the Raiders stormed back to score three unanswered tries and get to within two points of the Bulldogs with ten minutes to go.

But Canterbury halfback Mick Ennis scored his second try of the match to put the game beyond the Raiders' reach.

The Bulldogs, last year's wooden spooners, deserved the win as they dominated possession throughout and defended fiercely in the second half.

They started more committed than their opponents and always looked more dangerous in attack.

Canberra got away to the worst possible start when they lost Scott Logan to an ankle injury, the big prop limping off after a heavy tackle in the first minute.

It went from bad to worse when Bulldogs winger Bryson Goodwin crossed out wide and Mick Ennis converted to put the Sydney side ahead 6-0 after just five minutes.

The Bulldogs had all the ball over the opening 25 minutes and put the Raiders under huge pressure with their relentless attack.

New signing Brett Kimmorley went close, only to be denied by some desperate defence, but the pressure eventually told when fullback Luke Patten burst through some flimsy tackles to score, Ennis again converting to put the Bulldogs out to a 12-0 lead.

They were in again seven minutes before the break when Ennis finished off some brilliant lead-up work from Goodwin, Patten and promising newcomer Jamal Idris, who used his lightning speed to set the Bulldogs off on a 90 metre break down the right touchline.

The Raiders were looking certain to go in to the break staring at an 18-0 deficit, but they struck back right on the stroke of halftime against the run of play.

In one of the rare forays into the Bulldogs quarter, Josh McCrone stabbed a kick ahead, which Bulldogs winger Brent Crisp spilled over the line for Raiders centre Joel Monaghan to fall on the loose ball.

Terry Campese converted to narrow the gap to 18-6 at the break.

Two minutes after the re-start Monaghan scored his second when the Bulldogs again failed to deal with a chip ahead, spilling the ball over the line to hand the Raiders centre the simplest of tries and put his side back to within eight points.

The gap was down to two points when Monaghan's centre partner Adrian Purtell strolled over untouched and Campese converted, but that was as close as the Raiders were to get as the Bulldogs absorbed the pressure then struck back to seal the win.

Bulldogs 24 (M Ennis 2 B Goodwin L Patten tries M Ennis 3 H El Masri goals) bt Canberra 16 (J Monaghan 2 A Purtell tries T Campese 2 goals) at Meakin Park, Brisbane.

- AAP