The opening round of D-grade Northern Conference delivered three belting games with two decided by just two points and an 18-all draw between Dungog and Clarence Town on Friday night at Bennett Park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Maitland United won 22-20 on the road against Tea Gardens, Hinton returned with the two points from Stroud with a 24-22 victory.
Reigning premiers Paterson River were the biggest winners defeating Karuah 42-12.
The Morpeth Bulls are off to a winning start after being promoted to C-grade in the Newcastle and Hunter Community Rugby League.
The Bulls opened their campaign with a 36-10 home win against Abermain Hawks who also moved up to C-grade after winnings last year's D-grade Southern Division.
The Aberglasslyn Ants also had a winning start accounting for Gloucester 34-22.
The NHCRL will closely monitor both Mallubula and Kearsley's form over the next few rounds after Mallubula smashed the crushers 64-0 in round one.
In the other C-grade fixture, Budgewoi Bulldogs defeated Raymond Terrace 32-20 at Lakeside Oval.
Defences were on top at Fred Harvey Oval as Belmont Souths scored the only try of the game to beat Woodberry Warriors 4-0 in the Warriors' first game in A-grade.
The Warriors are on the road against Shortland next week, but look comfortable in the higher grade after winning the B-grade premiership last year.
East Maitland had to reschedule their round one game against Windale to July 6 when play was not possible at King Edward Park because of work on the cricket pitch area.
The Griffins had been scheduled to play Kotara at King Edward Park this weekend but are looking at the possibility of transferring the game to another ground.
The opening round of D-grade Northern Conference delivered three belting games with two decided by just two points and an 18-all draw between Dungog and Clarence Town on Friday night at Bennett Park.
Maitland United won 22-20 on the road against Tea Gardens, Hinton returned with the two points from Stroud with a 24-22 victory.
Reigning premiers Paterson River were the biggest winners defeating Karuah 42-12.
Aberglasslyn Ants continued on their winning way in Ladies League Tag A-grade beating Fingal Bay 22-12 at McKeachies Oval on Saturday.
Their arch rival University Of Newcastle defeated Dora Creek 24-0 and Raymond Terrace had a 12-6 away win against Awabakal.
In their first LLT games, Dungog won the C-grade local derby against Clarence Town beating them 38-0.
Maitland United also had a winning start in LLT C-grade beating Windale 26-8 at McKeachies Oval on Saturday.
