Southcity sent Cootamundra crashing back down to earth after handing out a big reality check on Saturday.
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Coming off two wins to start the season, the Bulldogs were a step or two behind the Bulls at Harris Park
The premiers fired early and Cootamundra were rarely in the contest during the 48-6 win.
Fullback Jake Dooley scored the first of his three tries in the fifth minute to start a dominant performance.
After a poor first half last week in their come-from-behind win over Gundagai, captain-coach Kyle McCarthy was thrilled with their performance.
“It was brilliant,” McCarthy said.
“We done what we talked about all week and completed early on.
“Once we got into the grind I think we tired them and the points come easily which is really good.”
The Bulls roared out to a 26-0 half-time lead as their powerful back line did plenty of damage.
Jack Lyons did plenty of damage on the edge, setting up Dooley for his second after front rower Hayden Jeans backed a break from the winger.
Lyons then scored two tries in four minutes before Usaia O’Sullivan crossed to give Southcity a 26-0 lead going into the break.
Cootamundra needed to respond and were the first to score in the second half when halfback James Smith stepped through the line.
But when Nick Skinner, Jeans and McCarthy came back onto the field the Bulls kicked back into gear.
Nathan Rose turned defense into attack in the blink of the eye when he fielded a kick and sprinted 90 metres to score.
The onslaught continued as McCarthy sliced through the Bulldogs defence before Dooley scored his third and then Lyons brought up his hat-trick with another long range effort off the restart.
Cootamundra had a win over Gundagai to start the season and McCarthy was surprised by the scoreline.
“They are a quality team and we knew we were in for a fight, but those early completions helped us and put us in good stead for the back end of the game,” he said.
Jeans and Skinner were strong up front for Southcity while the likes of Rose, Dooley, O’Sullivan and Lyons created plenty of headaches on the edges.
Injured Cootamundra captain-coach Glen Buttriss thought the Bulls strong offload game had his team on the back foot.
He was disappointed with the attitude of his team.
“They were pretty good today and had more energy and their attitude was better than ours,” Buttriss said.
“From the get go the boys didn’t turn up, but we will move onto next week.”
He’s hoping to return from a hip flexor issue when the Bulldogs face Young while Southcity hosts Albury.