The Gunnedah Bulldogs moved one step closer to a top-four berth in the Group 4 women’s leaguetag competition after recording a tight 12-10 victory over the Dungowan Cowboys at Kitchener Park last Saturday.

It was the second week in a row that the Bulldogs beat a team which had defeated them earlier in the season, with Gunnedah entering last Saturday on the back of a 14-12 win over Werris Creek (which beat the Bulldogs on forfeit in April).

Dungowan had beaten Gunnedah 18-6 on May 17, with Shonriqua Hippi scoring three tries, before the Bulldogs kept her relatively quiet last Saturday.

Gunnedah remained two wins outside the top-four, while effectively needing to win every week in order to make the finals.

The Bulldogs did it the hard way last Saturday as they had a starting team of 11 players and no subs, while their opponents had a squad of 19.

The Cowboys shot themselves in the foot as three players were banished to the sin bin, with the referee taking a hard stance on dissent and late tags.

A well-placed kick from Gunnedah skipper Zoe Fleming forced an early goal-line drop-out, and then Maddy Finlay scored the opening try in the next set.

The Bulldogs faltered from the restart, and paid the price as Sienna Pepperell scored soon afterwards although it appeared her tag may have been removed milliseconds before she planted the ball.

A penalty for dissent gifted Fleming a simple penalty goal to put the hosts ahead 6-4, before a handling error from each side was followed by successive penalties to the Bulldogs and then a goal-line drop-out.

The Cowboys held on but were penalised for dissent, and Kenzie Perrett was dismissed for 10 minutes.

A break from Finlay enabled Gunnedah to return to the attack, with Nautica Eather looking certain to score when she fed Jacqui Jones who touched down at the posts.

The Bulldogs led 12-4 at half-time, after overturning a 12-4 deficit at the same venue the previous Saturday.

Lisa Jenner and Georgia Holcombe were sin-binned early in the second half, prompting the referee to issue a warning to both captains.

Gunnedah dominated field position amid some scrappy football from both teams, before Hippi grubber-kicked and earned her team ‘six again’.

A converted try to Dungowan captain Paris Knox slashed the margin to just two points with a shade under 10 minutes left, but the Cowboys could not find a way to score again.

Eather, Fleming and Dakota Durrant were voted as the pick of Gunnedah’s players.

“It was a pretty gutsy win from the girls, to hold them out in the end there,” Fleming said.

With the Cowboys repeatedly earning the ire of the referee in a similar way to what the Bulldogs had often done earlier in the season, Fleming said the players knew they had to be disciplined.

“After the first warning he gave to Dungowan, we definitely knew to slow it down and be quiet,” she said.

Gunnedah’s skipper said the Bulldogs viewed every game as a must-win and were on the right track, regarding their finals chances.

“The momentum from the last game got us over (the line) this game,” she said.

Gunnedah’s victory occurred on the club’s Ladies Day, with about $1000 raised for CanAssist after the Bulldogs leaguetag team organised a raffle. Many local businesses donated gifts for this fundraiser.

There was also ‘Try July’ fundraising, with $10 donated to CanAssist for every so-called ‘try celebration’.

Gunnedah’s women’s rugby league team, meanwhile, won on forfeit.

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