Jersey Flegg fall short in Leichhardt cliffhanger

The Sydney Roosters defeated the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in another Jersey Flegg extra time final, booking them a spot in the Preliminary Finals.

Zachary Rumble got the Bulldogs on the board first with an early try before Stanley Mele scored his first of two tries for the Roosters in the 13th minute.

The Roosters hit the lead soon after when Coby Thomas spotted half a gap and burst through, but the Bulldogs hit back almost immediately when Declan Casey took the ball to the line and held it up beautifully for Isaiah Tass to score.

 A mistake off the kick-off allowed the Roosters to go on the attack once again and converted their good field position into points when Stanley Malae ran a good line and crashed over.

A penalty off the kick-off led to Freddy Lussick running a fair distance to score, giving them a 18-8 lead at the break.

The Bulldogs had to start the second half strong to remain alive, and they did so with back-to-back tries to Lachlan Talau and Tyrone Harding to lock the scores up.

An important long-range try to Jake Kambos gave the Roosters a late lead but the Bulldogs scored at the end to send the game into extra time.

Kobe Rugless scored a powerful try for the Roosters in extra time which was the only scoring play, which advances them to the Preliminary Finals.

This article first appeared on NSWRL.com.au | Words: Matt Buxton