The Bulldogs had opened up a 10-3 lead inside the first 15 minutes of Saturday’s match at Ashwood Park and enjoyed a glut of possession inside the Boars’ 22, but then fell away in the run to half-time.

Their seven-point lead turned into a seven-point deficit and a Boars side who had been crushed 78-5 by Orange City in the opening round was growing in confidence.

But the Bulldogs, who had also been less than impressive in an opening round loss to the Orange Emus, managed to snuff out any hope Parkes held of an upset in the 18 minutes which followed as they crossed for three tries.

“I think they were not happy with the way they had played,” Bulldogs co-coach Shane Cantrill said of the revival.

“We started off exactly the way we wanted to play in the first five or 10 minutes, but I think sometimes maybe we were over-enthused.

“We pressured on their line, got a couple of penalties and a couple of little dropped balls and we kicked the ball away three times – that wasn’t good and we went into a hole.

“But we got ourselves out of that hole, so I am happy with that. It was a good second half.”

Flanker Peter Fitzsimmons and inside centre Tom Joseph both scored early tries for Bulldogs, Parkes’ only joy in the opening quarter of Saturday’s match being a Warren Lowe penalty goal.

But when Parkes managed to score a lucky try – Sam Standen blocking a Phil Tonkin grubber and then toeing the ball downfield before crossing – it gave the Boars some confidence.

Lowe nailed his conversion from just metres in from the right touchline to make it 10-all, his boot working much better than that of Bulldogs flyhalf Steve Locke, who missed a much easier penalty goal attempt soon after.

On the back of a brilliant stepping run from fullback Riley Byrne, Parkes again found themselves deep in Bulldogs territory with six minutes of the half remaining.

He was tackled just short of the line by Tonkin, but the Boars arrived in numbers, cleaned out well and spread the ball wide to an unmarked Standen on the right wing.

Lowe converted to make it 17-10 and was unlucky not to further extend that margin with a penalty goal attempt after the half-time siren, his effort from halfway striking the post.

When the Bulldogs returned for the second period they wasted little time in drawing level as Izzac Breen scored from a pick and drive and Locke nailed the conversion.

Breen was in again soon after and when Adam Dwyer darted over after a Bulldogs scrum win, the hosts had zipped away to a 29-17 lead.

The Bulldogs’ forward pack were impressive as they hit the line hard and, more importantly, were quicker to the breakdown than they had been in the first half.

At one stage they managed to screw a Parkes scrum, while they also won line-out ball against the feed.

It was a nice backline move that led to the Bulldogs’ sixth try of the match, Locke putting Joseph into a gap with a nice flat pass, before Fitzsimmons sealed the result with his second try on the back of a rolling maul.

Parkes coach Paul Moody tried to remain positive after the loss, pointing out it was an improvement on their season opener.

“We are still scratching a side together, we are rebuilding, and this is what it is going to be like week-to-week until we can cement a side and get them training and playing together each week,” he said.

“It was an improved effort, though, particularly with defence. We tackled a lot better this week and communicated a lot better this week.”

BATHURST BULLDOGS 43 (Izzac Breen 2, Peter Fitzsimmons 2, Tom Joseph 2, Adam Dwyer tries; Steve Locke 4 conversions) defeated PARKES BOARS 17 (Sam Standen 2 tries; Warren Lowe 2 conversions; Warren Lowe penalty)