The visiting Bulldogs were able to hold on to a 26-20 scoreline to pick up the points at Mackay Park. 

However, the Bulldogs will be without hooker Jared Cole potentially for the remainder of the season with a broken arm. 

A club spokesman said it was a devastating blow just as the Bulldogs were starting to get a roll on in the latter half of the competition. 

In a surprise showing, the Bay Tigers unveiled former Origin-player Ken McGuinness at five eighth, his first match in 15 years. The hosts also welcomed the return of fullback Sean Deaves.

Despite the extra inclusions, the Tigers started slow, letting in three tries in the first 15 minutes of the game.

Bulldogs’ fullback Kyle Shepherdson opened the scoring, winning the race to a loose pass to run away for the try.

The Bulldogs were in again through Luke Rixon just five minutes later, with a slick backline move seeing the winger score untouched.

When Jared Cole snuck over from dummy-half, the Bulldogs led 16-0 with less than 20 minutes on the clock.

The day got worse for the Tigers when Deaves’ return was halted by another serious shoulder injury. Deaves was left favouring his left arm, and was taken straight to the sheds by trainers.

The Tigers managed to regroup after the injury, and Mitch Hockey continued his stellar season with a try in the left corner.

Adam McCann followed up with a dart from dummy half not long after, and when Peter Lett ran off a Ken McGuinness short ball for a four-pointer, the two sides were locked at 16 a piece.

Luke Farmer had a chance to take the lead with a penalty shot on the halftime siren, but his attempt was wide right.

The Bulldogs started the brighter side in the second half, using a string of penalties to set up shop in the Tigers’ 20.

John Aldridge took advantage of the field position, scoring a solo try to put the Bulldogs back in front.

Luke Rixon was in again shortly after for the Bulldogs, racing straight through the line to give the visitors a 26-16 lead.

Jordan Terare scored a late try for the Tigers, but it was too late for the home side, as they dropped their fourth straight match.

Club stalwart Mason Harrison said the loss had to be taken in perspective, despite captain Luke Farmer missing touch twice from penalty kicks.

“Overall it’s a team sport, and we lost that as a team,” he said. “Luke made some decisions that didn’t go to plan, but there were also a number of missed tackles that let in tries.

In other results, the under 18s lost to the Eden Tigers 16-10, the league-tag girls lost 16-6 to the Eden Tigerettes, and the reserves lost 36-10 to the Bulldogs.