The South West Rocks Marlins fought admirably but ultimately succumbed to the competition leaders the Long Flat Dragons in a nail-biting 40-32 loss.
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The Dragons started the contest in great form, racing out to a 16-0 lead before Josef Barber got the Marlins on the board.
However, it was a small lapse in an otherwise near perfect first half that saw the Marlins trail 28-10, with James Stokes crossing for the Marlins’ second minutes before the break.
The Marlins lifted in the second 40-minutes, their defence went to another gear and it aided their attack.
Jesse Meehan crossed for a try before Josef Barber grabbed his second to reduce the deficit to 28-20.
However, Long Flat answered with a try of their own to extend the different to 14.
The Marlins continued to fight and clawed back into the match when Jimmy Cutmore scored under the posts before Sam Howe completed a dazzling attacking play to put his side within two points.
A scuffle broke out in the 71st minute and it saw a player from each side sent to the sin bin.
The Marlins pressed to break the Dragons’ defence one more time and hand them their first loss of the season but it wasn’t to be as the Dragons scored in the final minutes to seal the victory.
Buddy Blair was Marlins’ player’s player.
