Western Suburbs Magpies and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have played out a thrilling 15-all draw in Round 17 of the NSW Cup at Lidcombe Oval.
Match: Magpies v Bulldogs
Round 17 -
home Team
Magpies
11th Position
away Team
Bulldogs
1st Position
Venue: Lidcombe Oval, Sydney
In one of their most impressive performances of the season, Western Suburbs Magpies have settled for a 15-15 draw against the ladder-leading Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
Wests were missing a number of their regular strike weapons, but were still able to rise to the challenge and go toe-to-toe with a Canterbury outfit stacked with NRL regulars.
Winger Sione Hopoate crossed after 14 minutes to score his first try for the Magpies since joining the club in recent weeks.
Bulldogs skipper Jackson Topine replied on the half-hour mark before NRL Development player Brandon Mansfield bagged his fifth try of the season, to give Western Suburbs an 8-4 lead at the break.
An early four-pointer to Bulldogs centre Ethan Quai-Ward looked ominous for the home side, however they held firm in defence and were rewarded with points of their own through Livai Saukuru.
Ryan Sutton’s try and Bailey Hayward’s conversion locked scores up at 14-14 with 11 minutes to go in a pulsating Round 17 fixture.
A Will Smith field goal with two minutes remaining looked to have secured a remarkable Magpies victory.
That was before Bailey Biondi-Odo landed a drop goal of his own on the stroke of full-time to put a full-stop on a thrilling match which ended in a 15-all draw.
Western Suburbs Magpies 15 (Hopoate, Mansfield, Saukuru tries. Smith goal. Smith field goal) drew Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 15 (Topine, Quai-Ward, Sutton tries. Hayward goal. Biondi-Odo field goal.)
