By Blake Edwards
The Illawarra Cutters were defeated 30-0 by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on Saturday.
Bulldogs halfback Harry Seijka opened the scoring midway through the period, scooping up a sloppy offload from the Cutters, racing 30 meters to score under the posts.
Bulldogs fullback Brad Abbey successfully converted the try to lead give the Bulldogs a lead of 6-0.
The Bulldogs crossed the line again moments later through centre Kerrod Hollland, when he broke through some lazy Cutters defence out wide.
A strong cover tackle from Cutters fullback Matt Dufty was not enough to hold the Dogs centre out, reaching out to score the visitors' second.
Bulldogs hooker Craig Garvey put in a nice grubber close to the try-line, which saw prop Llyod Perret lead the chase to dive on the pill to give the dogs their third after 27 minutes.
Abbey’s kick was successful and the Dogs led 16-0.
Just five minutes later, Bulldogs interchange prop Jake Kamire barged over close to the line to extend the lead to 20-0.
A string of late half penalties gave the Cutters opportunities down the Bulldogs end of the park, but some strong and desperate defence from the Dogs saw them retain their lead of 20-0 at the halftime break.
The Cutters came out firing in the second half producing their best set of the game, getting tackled on the fifth just shy of the Bulldogs line.
The scarlet and red had ample opportunities in the opening stages of the second stanza to get points on the board, but poor execution saw the Cutters remain scoreless.
A bomb from the Seijka in the 52nd minute saw Abbey leap over the top of Cutters winger Yaw Kiti Glymin , plucking the ball out of the air to race away and score the visitors' fifth try of the afternoon.
Frustration was evident from both sides, which in turn resulted in errors and multiple penalties, resulting in the scoring come to a halt for the most part of the final quarter of the game.
Bulldogs centre Rubenn Rennie crossed the line eight minutes from time to extend the lead to 30-0, courtesy of Abbey's third successful conversion of the afternoon.
Illawarra Cutters 0.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 30. Tries: Siejka, Hollland, Perret, Kamire, Abbey, Rennie. Goals: Abbey (3/6).