Bathurst Bulldogs recover from 12-0 deficit to beat Forbes Platypi by 12 points

Bulldogs found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being down 12-0 early in a match as the home side capitalised on their strong start.

Tries to Bryce Hazell and Viliami Kafusi had the home side looking the goods but little did they know that the latter's unconverted try in the 16^th minute would be the last points added to their side of the score sheet.

The visitors took their time to recover and Bulldogs levelled the scores at half-time through tries to Brenton Gibson and Sean Fogarty before outplaying the hosts over the final 40 minutes.

Joe Nash gave Bulldogs the lead for the first time in the 43^rd minute and Riley Hanrahan converted his own try to allow the blue and gold some breathing room.

That wasn't to say the Bulldogs could take things easy.

Forbes continued to create chances over the final 20 minutes but Bulldogs backed up their strong offensive start to the half by finishing with equally impressive defence.

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Assistant coach Matt McRobert, taking the reins in the absence of head coach Dean Oxley, was pleased with the Bulldogs' resilience in one of the toughest road trips to make.

"You go to Forbes expecting a tough game and they didn't fail to deliver," he said.

"They were certainly in our face, keen and fired up. Our guys managed to weather the storm though and make it 12-all at half-time.

"We were playing into a stiff wind in the second half but played some great footy to find two tries and could have even scored a few more but I was very pleased to get away with a 24-12 win."

After a big win over Orange City in the previous round Bulldogs knew the Platypi would bring a bigger test, especially through the middle of the park.

When the initial shock of the opening 20 minutes had subsided Bulldogs found the way to regather themselves.

McRobert said a positive discussion at half-time paved the way for the turnaround.

"They were very physical and coming off the line hard," he said of Forbes.

"They were forcing us into errors with the way they were playing and that kept working for a while. At half-time we spoke about carrying the ball harder and being more direct in attack.

"On the back of a very strong set piece - our scrum and lineout dominated Forbes - we got the result."