Group 11 under 18s defeated Group 10 26-20

The rival sides met at Parkes' Pioneer Oval and were both physical early but Group 11 proved too good in the end winning 26-20.

Group 11 coach Trevor Mawhinney knows his side saved their best for the second half after what was a less-than-ideal start.

"We made it hard for ourselves to start off with, we were a bit slow to get out the blocks," he said.

"They dug deep in the second half and started to play some decent footy."

Mawhinney's Group 10 counterpart Matthew Lawson believes his side let the match slip in some key moments.

"We sort of hung in there but there was probably a 10-minute period during the game where we lost our concentration and let missed a few opportunities," he said.

"We were very slow to react but it's just one of those things."

Group 10 came out of the blocks firing as they forced Group 11 into several mistakes and were parked down their end constantly attacking the try line.

The defence showed plenty of resilience but Group 10 eventually broke through as Haydn Edwards scored out wide.

It was more of the same following Edwards' try as Group 10 dominated possession and were threatening each time they attacked the line but couldn't find a way through.

However, 22 minutes in Trae Fitzpatrick stormed over to score his side's second try of the game with Mikey McNamara adding the extras.

Heading into halftime, Group 11 finally got into good field position and made the most of it as Braith Boyd went over.

Dubbo CYMS and Group 11 playmaker Latrell Fing nailed the conversion as the score read 10-6 in favour of Group 10 at the break.

Folau made his presence felt immediately after the break as he strolled over for a try and with Fing's sharpshooting all of a sudden, Group 11 had a 12-10 lead.

McNamara took things into his own hands and showed some brilliant footwork to score an important try for his side before converting his four-pointer.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued as Folau showed great strength to score his second try of the match while also levelling the score up at 16-all.

Starting off the bench Nyngan's Fletcher Hunt was brilliant and provide great energy along with Harry Stimson.

Playing at halfback, Hunt opted to take the Group 10 defence on himself and had success as he scored.

Fing lined up for the conversion attempt and calmly began to walk into his kick before being attacked by a magpie which appeared throughout the game several times to cause havoc for some of the players.

After the intruder left the field Fing slotted the conversion and gave Group 11 a 22-16 lead.

There was more success for the home side shortly after as Jaedyn Murray scored out wide after beating several players.

Murray's try gave Group 11 a 10-point lead with just under seven minutes remaining and Group 10 would soon make things interesting.

Edwards scored his second try of the match with a handful of minutes on the clock but a missed conversion would leave the score 26-20.

Group 10 had one last chance with the ball but didn't have any success as Mawhinney's side celebrated their win.

The Group 11 mentor thought his side wasn't at their best in the first half but knows Boyd's try just before was a big turning point in the match.

"We just couldn't get to a kick and kept dropping the ball, our own mistakes let us down in the first half," he said.

"We turned the corner there (with Boyd's try) then had a bit of a chat at half time then got on with it."

Hunt played the majority of the game at halfback and Mawhinney thought his bench provided a great spark during a tough period of play.

"They were good, they were keen to play all of them," he said.

"It was good to have a bunch of boys who wanted to play for each other."

For Lawson, he said the game was a bit of a tough one to take for some players but knows those who are eligible to play again next year will be eager.

"There is a lot of boys who are in their last year of 18s so they'll enjoy the day," he said

"There are a few younger kids who will still be able to play next year which is good."

GROUP 11 UNDER 18s 26 (Malaki Folau 2, Jaedyn Murray, Braith Boyd, Fletcher Hunt tries; Latrell Fing 4 conversions) defeated GROUP 10 UNDER 18s 20 (Haydn Edwards 2, Mikey McNamara, Trae Fitzpatrick tries; McNamara 2 conversions)

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