As they did in first round, the Rams looked good for the first five minutes, but then a string of penalties turned the game on its head.

"We gave them too much of a head start," Rams coach Tony Woolnough said.

"We turned the ball over too much and gave them too much possession and essentially handed them a 14-point lead and in that competition it's a bit hard to crawl back from that."

Riverina Bulls centre Nicholas Powderly was the beneficiary after some good ball work left him open out wide to run in the game's first try.

Just a few minutes later and Rams fullback Bailey Kennedy found himself in the sin bin. Not long after and Powderly ran in his second of the day as the Bulls opened up a 10-0 lead after 13 minutes.

It was back and forth between the two sides at Henry Lawson Oval before a streaking Harry Wald finally opened the scoring the Rams.

He converted his own try to close the gap to just four points and that's where the half would finish.

Unfortunately for the Rams, they gifted the visitors good field position to begin the second half when they gave away a penalty on the first set.

The Bulls piled on the pressure before Jake Cayfe and Detroy McKeller scored in quick succession to make it 20-6 with 37 minutes played.

Just as the flood gates looked to be open, the Rams sparked a comeback.

First it was Mason Rope who snuck over the line, before Zeke Heterick also bagged a four-pointer. With Wald converting both times, the score sat at 20-18 with a little more than ten minutes to play.

"The second half was a bit better and where we want to be at. But that start we gave them was too much," Woolnough added.

"That's the frustrating thing about it, when we kept the ball we looked good and looked dangerous and played some good footy. Then errors crept back in and we went back to square one."

The Rams came close but in the end, those errors proved costly and they fell by two points.

Looking ahead to next week's game against Macarthur Wests Tigers at Camden's Kirkham Oval, Woolnough knows there is one major thing they need to keep in mind.

"The key going forward is just complete," he said.

"If we get our fair share of the football in the game, I'm pretty confident we win the game.

"We just have to concentrate on those little one percenters like the play the ball. We've got a talented squad there and we showed there in the second half what we're capable of and if we get more of that, we get the result we want."

RIVERINA BULLS 20 ( Nicholas Powderly 2, Jake Cayfe, Detroy McKellar tries; Darcey O'Toole 2 goals) defeated WESTERN RAMS 18 (Mason Rope, Harry Wald, Zeke Heterick tries; Harry Wald 3 goals).

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: