Sam Kasiano was the hero for the Bulldogs in Sunday's 28-14 win over the Knights with an all-important charge down to help set up Moses Mbye's 55th minute game-breaking try.
With the scores levelled at 14-all – following two quick tries from Newcastle's Brendan Elliot – Kasiano's charge down on a Jarrod Mullen kick turned the game on its head.
Mullen looked to have the ball retrieved from the charge down at first but the veteran five-eighth failed to get a proper handle on the ball.
It left Bulldogs halfback Moses Mbye to pick up the loose ball and fall over the line to put his side on track for the win.
The Knights' 14-point loss handed the Novocastrians a piece of unwanted history, with the result making it a club record 14 straight defeats.
The Bulldogs were in control of the game for the most part and while Trent Hodkinson kicked the Knights to a 2-0 lead in the 11th minute, Mbye's crack at Newcastle's defence 10 minutes later allowed him to offload to Michael Lichaa for the game's opening try.
Knights winger Nathan Ross's game ended midway through the first half when he picked up a hamstring injury.
Making matters worse for Newcastle was Josh Morris's try in the 25th minute when handy lead up work from Will Hopoate and brother Brett saw the centre score.
A penalty goal from Mbye 10 minutes later handed the Bulldogs a 12-point lead at the half-time break.
A Hodkinson 40/20 three minutes into the second period kick-started the Knights' six-minute roll.
Elliot's first try in the 45th minute came when Mullen held off Josh Morris long enough to get an offload away for his winger to score.
Elliot's second came from a Hodkinson kick which caught out the Morris twins. The ball bounced favourably for the winger, whose wild dive into the corner kept him airborne long enough to plant the ball down.
Kasiano's match-turning effort was followed up by another Mbye penalty goal in the 73rd minute before Sam Perrett's try in the final three minutes helped the Bulldogs to a 14-point win.
The win means Bulldogs temporarily jump into the top four on the NRL Telstra Premiership ladder.
Canterbury Bulldogs 28 (Michael Lichaa, Josh Morris, Moses Mbye, Sam Perrett tries; Moses Mbye 6 goals) defeated Newcastle Knights 14 (Brendan Elliot 2 tries; Trent Hodkinson 3 goals) at Hunter Stadium. Crowd: 13,318. Half-time: Bulldogs 14-2.
