CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 15 ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 14
TOM SMITH, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Sunday

CANTERBURY captain Stephen Crichton nailed his first ever NRL field-goal to clinch the Bulldogs’ 90th-minute win over the Dragons.

After Kyle Flanagan’s clutch penalty-goal sent the clash into golden-point, both sides struggled to conjure the energy for another score before the Dogs skipper stepped up with just six seconds left of overtime.

It was only Crichton’s second ever one-pointer, after the extra-time effort which put Samoa into a World Cup final at England’s expense four years ago.

Canterbury will be relieved to leave Las Vegas with two competition points after a gritty battle where both they and their opponents struggled to click in attack but showed plenty of venom in defence.

In the build-up, St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan admitted his team weren’t going to win the premiership this year — but they didn’t lose any admirers for pushing the Bulldogs all the way.

Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo named an extremely similar line-up to the side that finished third last year but crashed out of the play-offs in straight sets.

Star stand-off Matt Burton (hamstring) was fit to accompany Lachlan Galvin in the halves, although a calf complaint sidelined new recruit Leo Thompson.

Flanagan injected Cronulla signing Daniel Atkinson into his 17 alongside son Kyle at the base of the scrum, and handed a long-awaited NRL debut to 27-year-old journeyman Setu Tu on the wing.

Valentine Holmes opened the scoring with a penalty-goal off a Samuel Hughes escort penalty, before destructive back-rower Jacob Preston combined with Galvin for the first try.

Damien Cook kicked nicely for Emre Guler to notch Saints’ first four-pointer, but the scores were level once Crichton added two points following a Luciano Leilua kick-chase penalty.

Another Crichton penalty-goal — this one thanks to a Tu escort — sent the Bulldogs to the sheds up by two.

And Canterbury had even more breathing room when Crichton put Kiraz into the left corner off the back of a scrum.

The Dragons struck back right away through debutant Tu, who cashed in on a brilliant Clint Gutherson tap-on.

Holmes missed that tough conversion attempt and gave the kicking duties to Flanagan for the match-levelling penalty, which came from a Max King offside infringement.

With both teams tiring after 75 minutes of attritional arm wrestle, the contest sprang to life late.

The Bulldogs opted against a field-goal attempt from point-blank range then a rash Crichton offload put Kiraz into touch.

Holmes missed a speculative one-point effort from inside his own half before a promising Marcelo Montoya bust ended in a ricocheted Dogs error to send the game into-golden point.

At the start of extra time, Burton’s boot presented the biggest threat, bamboozling Mathew Feagai then forcing a charge-down from the flagging Dragons defence.

Atkinson and Holmes then sprayed their shots as the clock ticked down to 90 minutes.

Another Atkinson attempt gave Canterbury 90 seconds to march the length of the field, and aided by a Ryan Couchman rake penalty, they found themselves right in the danger zone at the death.

While Burton is the Dogs’ regular kicker, captain Crichton stepped up in the moment of need from 25 metres out.

GAMESTAR: Back-rower Jacob Preston scored the opening try and posed a constant threat down the Dogs’ right edge.

GAMEBREAKER: Dogs skipper Stephen Crichton nailed the decisive drop goal with just seconds on the clock in golden point.

MATCHFACTS

BULLDOGS
1 Connor Tracey
2 Jacob Kiraz
3 Bronson Xerri
4 Stephen Crichton
5 Marcelo Montoya
6 Matt Burton
7 Lachlan Galvin
8 Max King
9 Bailey Hayward
10 Samuel Hughes
11 Viliame Kikau
12 Jacob Preston
13 Jaeman Salmon
Subs
14 Kurt Mann
15 Sitili Tupouniua
16 Harry Hayes
17 Josh Curran
20 Jake Turpin (not used)
21 Enari Tuala (not used)

Tries: Preston (11), Kiraz (50)
Goals: Crichton 3/4
Field-goals: Crichton (90)

DRAGONS
1 Clint Gutherson
2 Christian Tuipulotu
3 Moses Suli
4 Valentine Holmes
5 Setu Tu
6 Kyle Flanagan
7 Daniel Atkinson
8 Emre Guler
9 Damien Cook
10 Toby Couchman
11 Luciano Leilua
12 Jaydn Su’A
14 Hame Sele
Subs
13 Hamish Stewart
15 Josh Kerr
16 Blake Lawrie (not used)
17 Ryan Couchman
18 Lykhan King-Togia (not used)
21 Mathew Feagai

Tries: Guler (15), Tu (59)
Goals: Holmes 2/3, Flanagan 1/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-2, 6-2, 6-8, 8-8, 10-8; 14-8, 14-12, 14-14; 14-14; 15-14

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulldogs: Jacob Preston; Dragons: Damien Cook

Penalty count: 9-3
Half-time: 10-8
Referee: Grant Atkins
Attendance: 45,719