The Roosters have claimed their second narrow victory of the 2015 Auckland Nines, edging out the Bulldogs 10-6 in a game where defence held sway.
The Roosters and Bulldogs had looked on track to play out the first scoreless half of the tournament, with each team's scrambling defence able to shut down the few attacking raids that were launched, but finally the ninth minute saw a long-range Mitch Aubusson run put the Roosters on the attack. Samisoni Langi was able to stroll through the defence several plays later to make it 6-0 at half-time.
Defence continued to dominate attack early in the second half, before some good lead-up work and an offload from Dogs playmaker Moses Mbye allowed Shaun Lane to cross out wide, and a sideline conversion made it 6-all.
The Roosters hit back immediately through young winger Brendan Elliott, who went long range. The Dogs looked to have levelled up when young playmaker Damien Cook showed blistering pace to go over in the corner only to be ruled to have lost control of the ball over the line. The Roosters were able to hold on to their 10-6 lead and claim one of the more dour wins of the day.
