With Cooma going down to the Roosters, the Bulldogs now hold third on the first grade ladder with just one round remaining. 

The Bulldogs have locked in a top four finish with the Narooma Devils falling one point shy of the Pambula-Merimbula club even in perfect circumstances this weekend.

The first grade Bulldogs opened up a fantastic lead over their hosts in the first half, but had to rally defensively to shut down desperate raids by the Eden club in dying stages of play. 

The Bulldogs were sharp in attack with some sweeping plays and a dominant display from its left edge to lead 30-12 at the break. 

Jarrod Cole smashed his way through three defenders to open the scoring under the posts after the Bulldogs made a strong run through the middle. 

Play focused around the middle with Eden captain Michael Wykes putting on some blistering runs and gaining good metres. 

The Tigers continued their push and were rewarded with a try just outside the posts to level the score 6-6. 

Then it was Eden striking again to take the advantage 12-6 with impactful play from the returned fullback Joel Grewar. 

Play became a power struggle through the middle, but the Tigers were again pushing their way toward the Bulldogs’ line.

However, the Tigers pushed right and from about 20 metres out, a sloppy pass was intercepted by Jamie Sinclair, who bolted 80-metres down the track to score and even up the scores 12-12. 

The Bulldogs were now controlling momentum and a sweeping left side attack saw Jamie go over again. 

Rhys Cunningham then found the line off a quick play the ball to score under the posts and the Bulldogs started to pull clear 24-12. 

Michael Sinclair joined the scoring and the ‘Dogs led 30-12 at the break. 

Momentum shifted in the second half and the hosts were suddenly firing in the attack.

Elvis Tui and Adam Curtis made good ground, while John Aldridge had a strong kicking game and soon the scores were nearly deadlocked. 

However, the Bulldogs put a final try on the board and locked Eden out to win 36-32. 

The league-tag Hot Dogs didn’t fare quite as well with the Eden Tigerettes showing strong form to win 18-10.

The Hot Dogs will be back on the park Wednesday night at 6.30pm at the Dogpound to play the Pink Panthers.

Sunday’s final round will be known as “Ray Day” with the combined clubs raising funds to help Ray Ryan’s battle with cancer. 

The Bulldogs will host Bega in a massive final round of play at Bemboka’s Colombo Park on Sunday from 11am.