THE boot of Forbes Platypi flyhalf Matthew Kilgore broke Bathurst Bulldogs hearts at Ashwood Park on Saturday as his late penalty goal gave the visitors a 14-11 Central West Rugby Union win.

With four minutes to play, Kilgore's long range attempt from close to the halfway line crept over the bar and took his side to their seventh win from nine matches.

Bulldogs' Kurt Weekes had an opportunity inside the final minute to level the game after Forbes were penalised, but his attempt was right of the mark.

Each side only managed a single try - Tyson Smith crossing for Bulldogs and Brenton Howarth for the Platypi.

Bulldogs co-coach Brian Roberson said his side were staunch in defence, but did not produce the same quality of rugby with the ball in hand.

"I thought we played okay, a little bit flatter than our last game, but still alright. I think we left a lot of points out there today. Full credit to Forbes, they went the full 80 minutes and they defended very well," he said.

"We had enough ball to do something more with it. Both teams deserve a lot of credit for the way they defended on their line. It was a very tight game. We expected a dogfight and we got a dogfight.

"That's probably one of the better defensive teams that we've come up against this year. We've got to work on how we can better combat that next time."

Bulldogs had the first opportunity to score when the Platypi were penalised for a spear-tackle.

Weekes couldn't land the three-pointer, but minutes later his side had a try instead.

The ball found right winger Smith within 10 metres of the Platypi try line, but as he ran out of space to run, he chipped the ball into the in-goal.

Smith was able to beat two Forbes opponents to the ball to take Bulldogs to a 5-0 lead.

The Platypi found their reply soon later through Brenton Howarth.

Little did the two sides know that Howarth's try, which came in the 15th minute, would be the last of the game.

A head-high shot on Weekes then allowed him to step up and kick Bulldogs to an 11-8 lead, but a ruck infringement helped Kilgore level proceedings back up as he booted a penalty goal too.

Bulldogs owned the last 10 minutes of the match possession-wise, but several errors just metres shy of the Platypi line cost them dearly.

Kilgore's successful long range shot to go up 14-11 drew rapturous applause from the visiting fans, but they were silenced quickly as Bulldogs earned a penalty attempt of their own shortly after the kick-off.

However, Weekes' shot failed to find the mark, the miss resigning Bulldogs to their fourth loss of the season.

FORBES PLATYPI 14 (Brenton Howarth try; Matthew Kilgore 3 penalties) defeated BATHURST BULLDOGS 11 (Tyson Smith try; Kurt Weekes 2 penalties)