THE Long Flat Dragons made short work of the Port Macquarie Settlers in Sharks on the weekend winning 30-16.
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The win saw the Dragons improve their standing in the Hastings League competition but they face bitter rivals the Comboyne Tigers this weekend.
The rivalry is one of the longest running in the competition with the Tigers gaining the upper hand most recently.
But the Dragons will be full of confidence following their recent victory.
At the half-time break though the game was still in the balance with Dragons taking a slender 12-10 lead.
The Sharks discipline didn't do them any favours though with one player sent from the field in the first half and another two sin binned in the second half.
The Dragons closed out the game with tries to Vance Byles, Shaun Bannerman and Keith Hollis, who crashed over in the final minute.
Hastings League president Jeff Connor said, like previous years, the?Dragons have got off to a slow start but he expects them to gradually gain momentum.
But he said the big improver from last year was the Sharks.
"The competition is going well," he said.
"Newcomers to the comp, Harrington are struggling a little bit for numbers but I think they'll be right next year.
"The two struggling teams from last year the Sharks and Beechwood have really picked up this year.
"It's a very close comp. There's a group of teams at the top that could beat each other on any day."
The president said he looked forward to the Beach versus Bush representative clash that has become a regular fixture of the competition.
"The players have really taken to it," he said.
"And this year we will have ex international, Jim Murphy coaching the beach side."
Hastings League has enjoyed a vast growth with the annual representative clash but also the inclusion of the South West Rocks Marlins and recently the Harrington Hurricanes.
The comp also hosted the usual Bain Cup and nines competition to kick start the year.
"The competition is in a good place at the moment and most of the clubs are going well with strong numbers," he said.