Wests overcame a gritty Kurri Kurri 28-7 at Kurri Kurri Sportsground on Saturday.

The Bulldogs finished the match with 12 men after Lachlan Hill was sent off in the 74^th minute for a high tackle on Ben Stone. Hill had spent 10 minutes in sin bin earlier in the second half for a tipping tackle. Both incidents were put on report. Logan Radzievic

The win was the Rosellas' second in three games and moved them to four points, 10 points behind fifth-placed Cessnock with six games remaining. Sandwiched between the victories was a 22-16 loss to leaders Maitland.

"We just have to win games," Lowrie said. "The finals are within reach and it is definitely in our sights. We haven't given up on it.

"Even the loss to Souths (16-10), before we beat Cessnock, we played a lot better. Unfortunately only two out of four, but we have certainly been a lot better in the last month than we were earlier in the season."

Wests led 10-7 when Hill was sent to the bin in the 60^th minute.

Within seconds Max Buderus set up Logan Radzievic on the short side for the winger to score his second.

"We had just got our noses in front when Hill got the sinbin," Lowrie said. "Then we were good enough to take advantage of it when they did have the 12 men. We scored one or two tries. It was good to be able to capitalise on that and then hold on in the end. I thought our defence was really good, probably the best it has been all year.

"It was a tough win and one we obviously needed.

"Kurri were pretty good. They played nice and tough. Playing Kurri up their on a Saturday arvo is never easy."

In the other game on Saturday, Cesnock winger landed a field goal to secure the Goannas a 11-10 win over Macquarie at Lyall Peackock Field.

Pointscore: Maitland 19, Souths 16, Central 15, Macquarie 14, Cessnock 14, Wyong 12, The Entrance 10, Wests 4, Lakes 4, Kurri Kurri 4.

MORE IN SPORT:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: