The break-through win was fitting reward for the Blacks who could have with an ounce of luck been sitting on top of the table with three wins from the opening three games.

Blacks co-coach Mick Hickling said two tries shortly before the half-time break set up the victory giving Maitland a 24-12 lead at the break.

However, Hickling said the turning point came when Maitland immediately scored after Merewether bridged the gap to 10 points with a try mid-way through the second half.

“In the second half one of the most pleasing points for us was that they scored a try to get back within 10 points mid-way through the second half,” he said.

“As soon as that happened the boys responded and we scored to extend the lead out to more than two converted tries and put the game away.

“They got a sniff but we were able to push away from them.

“We were really happy at half-time because they had the ball down our end for a fair bit of time, but every time we did manage to get down their end we came away with points, whether it was three or a try.

“That was really pleasing that we were able to capitalise so well on our scoring opportunities.”

Hickling said his team put in a strong performance across the park.

“The backline looked pretty dangerous. Every time we were able to shift the ball on the front foot we looked good,” he said. 

“Chris Logan was outstanding at fullback and any time our centres got the ball it looked like we would go through them or around them.

“Our set pieces were rock solid. Our scrum was fantastic we turned over a couple of their balls on the scrum, we shoved them off the ball a couple of times and we put pressure on their halfback who got pinged for an incorrect scrum feed because of the pressure on their scrum.”

Hickling said Maloney’s performance on debut in first grade was outstanding and was evidence of the club’s increased depth.

“Every time he got the ball he was dangerous. We were very happy with him,” he said