It was Bulldogs' engine room of Bailey Warren, Tom Felsch and Matt Trapp who led the way in Saturday's Blowes Cup clash with the Cowra Eagles, inspiring Bathurst to a 24-15 victory.

Cowra had twice beaten Bulldogs prior to Saturday's clash at Ashwood Park and it had been their big men which proved crucial. The way Warren, Felsch and Trapp responded was impressive.

They ran hard, they took the tough carries, they toiled at the breakdown and they matched Cowra in the scrums.

"As our boys said after the game, our front row won us the game," Bulldogs coach Dean Oxley said.

"It was a team effort, a lot of factors go into a win like that, but without our front row operating like they did, we can't win the game.

"It was upsetting to get worked in the scrum up at Cowra, but the talk at the end of the game today was all about Bailey, Tom Felsch and Trappy who were leading us in the front row."

With the front row helping drive them, Bulldogs scored the first 13 points of the contest.

Though Cowra kept coming, the closest they got to the hosts was six points. That strong start was another key factor, Oxley saying it gave his men the belief they needed.

"We lost that first game in Bathurst, we got taught a lesson, that hurt. We went to Cowra and started well but they finished stronger than us, finished over the top of us," he said.

"We were looking for that good start because we needed to believe, it was a little bit questionable if we felt we were good enough to beat them."

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The win moves Bulldogs into first place with two rounds remaining, leapfrogging Cowra.

Eagles coach Colin Kilby said what cost his side as it suffered just its second loss of the season was not retaining possession.

When the Eagles had the ball they did look dangerous - flanker Joe Sullivan made plenty of yards while fullback Noah Ryan and centre Vilikesa Kolagai looked threatening. The problem was they didn't get enough possession.

"We knew it was going to be tough, it's obviously what we're playing for at this time of year. They knocked us off, but we've just got to respect the ball a lot more than we did," Kilby said.

"Cheap turnovers followed by penalties - you just can't give the field.

"But full credit to Bulldogs, they came with a plan and executed pretty well.

"We'll never lay down and I'm not overly concerned we won't come back from it either, it was just one of those games were we didn't respect the ball and it's proved costly."

Bulldogs' good start was aided by a penalty, skipper Peter Fitzsimmons crashing over from close range.

That was in the fifth minute and in the 20^th Cowra was penalised for collapsing a scrum to help Bulldogs push further ahead, Kurt Weekes nailing the resulting shot at goal.

When a nice ball from flanker Zach Taylor put winger Bryce Rue over not long after, Bulldogs were well in control at 13-0.

But Cowra was leading the competition for a reason. The Eagles responded.

Number 8 Damian Michael was held up over the line following an attacking line-out and 90 seconds later Ryan sliced through Bulldogs' defence and found prop Gabe Brown in support.

However, Cowra undid some of that good work by conceding another penalty within kicking range which Weekes slotted, making it 16-7 at the break.

Seven minutes into the second half a nice Phil Tonkin cut-out pass had Ben Sheppeard over in the left corner to make it 21-7.

Cowra was in need of some inspiration and it came in the form of two crunching tackles - one from Kolagai, the other Manu Katoa.

A Ryan penalty goal followed then a Michael try to have Cowra in reach at 21-15 with 15 minutes left.

But handling errors and cheap penalties cost Cowra in the end as a Rue penalty with six left handed Bulldogs the win.

"We normally up the ante at the end of games but they upped the ante and we had to get our shoulder to the wheel and get the job done," Oxley said.

"The boys got the call on paying the bills, doing the job and getting around each other and when you stand up and you put the extra effort in and you get the result, it just gels.

"We've got money in the bank there in the belief we have in each other and what it means to be part of this Bulldogs side."

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