Easts were dismissed for 206 but managed to bowl City out for 201 in the only first grade game to go ahead on the weekend.

City were left to rue dropping Griffins youngster Trent Park on 30 with the teenager going on to top score with 76.

“We dropped a couple which proved costly, but in the end Easts were too good for us on the day,” City skipper Matt Trappel said.

“Dropping Trent on 30 proved pretty costly. However, they were good enough to take advantage of their chance.

“They are a really good outfit this year and could easily be in the running for a top two finish.

“I think the competition is going to be even tighter this year, which is great but you have to be right on your game every minute.

“In the end I think they wanted it a bit more than we did at crucial stages.

“We played some really good cricket at stages, but just couldn’t stick at it for the entire game.”

Trent Park was the stand-out in the Easts’ batting card, with Jack Stoneman (21), Jayden Park (24) and Brendan Allen (26) all making starts.

Bowen Schmidt had the best figures for City finishing with 4/34, with Nick Bower (2-38), Ben Davies (2-31) and Tim Burton (2-24) all claiming two wickets.

City will be strengthened with the return of Michael Heinrich and Anru Kriel, but Trappel was offering no excuses.

Ricky Dent and Trappel led City’s run chase with 40 each and Nick Bower contributed 30, but City’s momentum was stifled with Easts able to make a double break-through every time they broke a partnership.

Dallas Crane finished with 3-49 and was backed up by Lucas Sargent (2-23) and Josh Hicks (2-45).

Play in the games between Northern Suburbs and Thornton, and Western Suburbs and Raymond Terrace was abandoned before a ball was bowled.