The Gungahlin Bulls have held onto their Canberra Raiders Cup premiership hopes after staging a second-half fightback on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Bulls were down at half-time before they turned up the heat in defence to stage a 24-16 comeback against the West Belconnen Warriors.
Bulls coach Neil Bijorac said at half-time they spoke about their defensive attitude, which drastically improved in the second half to clinch the win.
"The most pleasing thing for us was our defence, after we talked about having some intensity in our defence at half-time," he said.
"Two or three times we held them up for two or three sets on the line. So a focus for us will be defence on the line coming into finals."
MORE IN SPORT
Gungahlin sits atop the ladder, with the Queanbeyan Blues one point behind them. The 24-16 defeat still means the Warriors remain fourth after their loss.
With four rounds left, the Bulls cannot afford to drop any points if they hope to take the premiership later this month.
Warriors coach Matt Gafa's side still remain in finals contention after the loss but he said they needed to address their second-half performances.
"We weren't patient in the second half. It's due to our lack of experience. We sort of struggled a bit with our chances and we weren't patient with them," he said.
"It's always disappointing when you lose, but they're on top of the table and we played alright in the first half and it shows we're a good team when we play well.
"Something we seem to be lacking, though, is a decent second half. I'm unsure why, but it's something we have to work out in the next couple of weeks."
Over at Workers Arena Queanbeyan Blues made it five wins in a row, beating Goulburn City Bulldogs 50-10 to hold on to second spot. The top four battle remains tight, with two points separating fourth and sixth.
AT A GLANCE
CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP ROUND 14:
- GUNGAHLIN BULLS 24 (R O'Sullivan 2, T Eldridge, J Williams, C Williams tries; T Eldridge, M Richards goals) bt WEST BELCONNEN WARRIORS 16 (K Rushton, J Ayers, D Medlyn tries; B Graham 2 goals).
- QUEANBEYAN BLUES 50 (M Parsons 4, G Morseu, Utuloa Asomua, B Murray, R Holani, J Baker tries; T Campese 7 goals) bt GOULBURN CITY BULLDOGS 10 (S Cummins 2 tries; I Walker goal).
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram