When all is said and done, rugby league, like sport in general, is about establishing winning momentum - that precious, and often rare, thing.
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On a chilly night at Kitchener Park on Saturday, the Bulldogs and the Kangaroos staged a dramatic battle to try and obtain that. Both sides were looking for back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Boggabri, in fact, were looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since they joined the first-grade competition last season, having won their debut match the previous round: the 22-18 defeat of the Cowboys at Dungowan was also stirring stuff.
Given what was at stake, the intensity on display on Saturday night was heightened from the start of the match, and only increased the closer it got to the finish.
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In the end it was Gunnedah - via key plays by three of their big-name players at the death - who prevailed 26-22.
Two close-range Boggy tries, to rake Matt Gillham and second-rower Bailey Lennox, in the last 15 minutes of the match handed the Roos a 22-14 lead.
But the were countered by two Gunnedah tries in the last nine minutes.
Both were score when Boggabri were down to 12 men, after referee Michael Lace sin-binned prop Nick Millar.
First, big Lincon Smith finally achieved enough momentum to crash through Boggabri's tryline defence, after a couple of unsuccessful earlier attempts. Reece Jaeger, the skipper, converted and it was 22-20.
Then, as has happened quite often in the past, the Bulldogs' always-threatening No.1 Dylan Lake easily won the race to a well-weighted grubber and pounced in the in-goal area.
No.6 Jaeger supplied the kick, then added the extras. Game over, effectively. Jaeger may have had his best game this year.
Bulldogs coach John Hickey thought his side deserved to win, but applauded Boggabri's effort. He believes that Millar being marched was "probably unfortunate" for the Roos.
"The fact was we played well, they played really well and it turned into a cracking game, I thought," Hickey said.
Gunnedah opened the scoring in the fourth minute when consistent winger Lachlan King dived over in the corner on the western side of the ground. King's younger brother, Heath, the Dogs' "mascot", died the previous Saturday - his funeral held on Thursday.
It was 4-4 10 minutes later when Lennox scored his first try from close range.
Jaeger then crossed in the corner in the 30th minute after centre Adam Mooney charged down a kick, raced away and then found his captain on the inside. Jaeger missed the kick: 8-4 to Gunnedah.
In the 38th minute, Roos No.7 Jayde Campbell went himself inside the Bulldogs' 20-metre zone and scored. He then converted, and the Roos led 10-8 at halftime.
In the 51st minute, Bulldogs No.7 Matt Brady went him about 20m out from the Roos' tryline and scored under the posts: 14-10 to Gunnedah.
Hickey said the most pleasing aspect of his charges' past two performances (they beat Narrabri the previous round) was their coolness when decisions went against them.
"We're just getting on with the game," he said. "We played a very solid 80-minute game of football last night [Saturday] - and that's impressive for me."
