When CYMS and Hawks gathered at the centre of Wade Park to conduct a minute silence for Harry Greenhalgh, you just knew the Group 10 Magic Round derby would be special.
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Two blues donned a unique strip for the contest as pictures of Greenhalgh covered their jersey, and McKellar's men started in fitting style, shooting out to a 10-0 lead.
But, the early advantage wouldn't be enough to put away a well-drilled CYMS outfit as the green and golds capped off a triple header with a magical 36-22 victory, their second triumph over their cross-town rivals in 2021.
It was Hawks' Talon Hodge who bagged the first try of the afternoon, putting the finishing touches on a Ryan Manning line break.
Hooker Alex Prout found himself in the right place at the right time just a few minutes later, snagging a pass from Toby Westcott after Nathan Potts broke the line.
Despite the early onslaught, Daniel Mortimer's men remained composed as they capitalised on a Hawks' error on the ensuing kick-off, speedster Lachie Munro trucking over from close range.
A crash ball to Joe Duffy in the 25th minute saw CYMS go back-to-back, taking a 12-10 lead.
Fill-in two blues' skipper Ethan McKellar stormed onto a short ball from Westcott just four minutes later, shrugging off Mortimer before beating Munro to score.
CYMS then cashed in on back-to-back tries and enjoyed a 24-16 half-time buffer.
To add salt to Hawks' wounds, Ryan Manning was sin-binned in the 45th minute for a professional foul, opening the flood gates for the green and golds.
We came here for a win and we got one.
- Daniel Mortimer.
Lachie Munro, Nick Law and Jordan Clark were among CYMS' try scorers during the period after the sin-binning.
Two blues' flier Mitch Watts brought the scores back to 34-22 with 12 to go, but an Addison Williams penalty goal put the nail in the coffin with a few minutes left, leaving CYMS two games up in the all-Orange series.
"Every derby is tough," Mortimer said.
"That was really a game until the last 10 minutes. It was very pleasing to get the win. They're obviously missing Willie [Heta] which is a big thing. We're going to need to be even better next time to get them again."
"But, we came here for a win and we got one... two points is two points."
McKellar said after the match that he felt CYMS' mad an impact out wide, running big boys at the outside backs, and Mortimer verified that it was part of him game plan.
"At Wade Park, you want to sort of avoid that pitch in the middle because it just takes all the speed out of your game," he said.
"That was part of the reason we wanted to attack the edges. It allowed the boys to get a bit more leg speed. When you've got back rowers like Ethan [Bereyne] Kaden [Williams] and Rob [Mortimer], you can sort of afford to do that.
There weren't a stack of positives for Ethan McKellar to address after the match, but the skipper touched on what it means to wear a jersey that honours such a special club person in Harry Greenhalgh.
"It's a massive and honour and unfortunately we didn't get the win today," he said.
"It's awesome for the club to do something like this and awesome for the people to get out and get amongst it."
As for his side's performance, it was brave but patchy.
"We just didn't execute the way we would have liked to," he said.
"Credit to CYMS. They did really well, so, good on them."
Two blues are zero for two against their rivals so far, partly due to the way in which the greens and golds utilise their forwards.
"I think it's just their roll on with their big boys," he said.
"They do have a big pack, they get their big boys out on our edges against our smaller blokes. Today, you could see the metres that they were getting."
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