A spirited and gritty nib Newcastle Knights outfit have been defeated 20-0 by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in front of a vocal crowd at Sydney's Accor Stadium.
Coming into the game fresh off a Round 4 bye, the Knights were met by an unbeaten Bulldogs side who were keen to maintain their unblemished record.
Things got off to the worst possible start, with Jacob Saifiti and James Schiller ruled out of the contest within the opening two minutes.
The Knights then dug in with a spectacular first-half defensive display, before the Bulldogs ran away with the contest after the break.
The Knights will now return to McDonald Jones Stadium for back-to-back home games, the first of which will come against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
Tickets to that match are on sale now, and can be purchased by clicking here.
How it played out:
3rd min: The Knights were left with just two players on the bench after Jacob Saifiti and James Schiller were ruled out of the contest in the opening exchanges. The Bulldogs then took the lead through a Stephen Crichton penalty goal.
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Ponga's perfect placement
40th min: After resisting wave after wave of Bulldogs attack, the Knights manage to turn the Bulldogs away to maintain just a 2-0 deficit at half time.
41st min: The Bulldogs finally found the first points of the contest, with Josh Curran grounding the ball after a bat back from Jacob Kiraz. Crichton converts to give the Bulldogs an 8-0 lead.
45th min: In a critical moment in the context of game, Phoenix Crossland was marched for 10 minutes for tripping Bulldogs halfback Toby Sexton. Just seconds later, Jack Todd stormed over the line to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 14.
71st min: The Knights were forced into some more heroic defensive efforts, holding the Bulldogs at bay and even having a few chances themselves, before Kurt Mann sealed victory by crashing over close to the line. Crichton's conversion took the score to 20-0.
