In cool conditions under lights at the 'Dogpound', the Bulldogs suffered early when the Tigers made the most of some left edge line breaks before recovering in the second half, but losing 22-12.

The visiting Tigers had surged to a 16-6 lead at half-time, storming home a number of tries up the left flank on the back of good work through the middle.

The cupboards were all but bare for the Bulldogs, who were reliant on some of the Candelo-Bemboka portability players to fill the bench.

It wasn't for lack of trying from the Bulldogs, who worked to make options at either side of the field and worked tirelessly in defence, but the Eden roster were formidable off the line and provided some clever attacking options that proved the difference.

Unfortunately play was disjointed with a number of penalties blown in the opening half, from dropped balls to high tackles and at one point the Tigers were even marched backwards for a bit of back-chat.

Tempers flared and threatened to boil over, but play did eventually steady with the teams locking in to an arm wrestle through the middle.

Tsai Tui scored the opening try for Eden, crashing through the middle after the Tigers earned a repeat set deep in Bulldogs' territory early in play.

Later it was Nick Smith breaking loose from a tackle on the left edge to cross in the corner and just a few minutes after that, Joel Grewar found the try line after breaking loose about 40 metres from the Bulldogs' chalk.

Merimbula pressured the Eden line repeatedly in that time, but the visitors were stoic against the usual blue and white attacking zones on the fringes, both Billy Doneman and Brock Seabrook were well-marked.

The Dogs opted for a couple of chip kick options, but Mason Harrison at fullback for Eden provided safe hands.

However, the Dogs finally burst through late in the half with Seabrook finding the mark and captain Corey Schafer slotting the conversion.

A Rhys Grewar try extended Eden's lead, while a late four-pointer to Merimbula-Pambula hooker Adam Stone wasn't enough to close the divide the Tigers had established in the first half.

Earlier, the Panthers had gone down in both the reserve grade and league-tag fixtures, with the visiting Eden sides proving too strong in both contests.

A late flurry of tries to the Panthers wasn't enough in reserve grade after Eden had led 18-0 at the break with the final score 28-18.

In league-tag, the Eden Tigerettes were too strong, running in a number of tries against the Pink Panthers.

The Dogs and Panthers will play host to the visiting Bay Tigers this weekend at the Pambula ground.