After two successive games where they had draws with both Narromine and Warren, the Coonamble Bears returned to the winners' list when they drew away from the Cobar Roosters in the last quarter of their Christie and Hood Castlereagh League Round 7 clash played in front of their faithful at Coonamble Sportsground on Saturday.

Down 18 to 22 at the half time break, and then looking at a ten point deficit after Cobar’s half back Thomas Plater scored his third try, which he converted with just 20 minutes to go, the Bears stormed home, racing in for tries in the 65th, 72nd and 78th minutes, one of which was converted. Add to that a Jack Kelly field goal and the Red and Blacks came away with a 33 to 28 victory that keeps them well and truly in the hunt for a semi-final berth at the halfway mark in the competition.

The win also sets up an enticing Round 8 clash against Coonabarabran at Coonabarabran, with the Unicorns currently sitting in second position on the ladder, having experienced only one loss so far in the competition.

They continued their good form when they got over the top of the Dunedoo Swans at Dunedoo on Saturday. They led 24 to 14 at half time, but a converted try to the Swans after the break saw the Unicorns click into gear and they went on to score four unanswered tries, all converted, to take the game 48 to 20.

In the battle of the dogs played out at Gulgong’s Billy Dunn Oval, the Bull Terriers won a hard-fought battle with the Warren Bulldogs who put in a spirited effort in the second half of the game after trailing 26 to 6 when the sides trooped off with 40 minutes elapsed.

The visitors came out firing and had trimmed 12 points off the lead to make the score 26 to 18, before Gulgong stemmed the flow with a try themselves to have the scoreboard reading 30 to 18 in their favour.

However, the Bulldogs were not going away and, led by a three-try effort to their lock Elias Kennedy, it was most certainly a matter of 'game on' but, in the end, they went down 36 to 30.

After a couple of impressive efforts over the past two weeks, the Bulldogs will be looking forward to hosting Dunedoo next Saturday as they search for their first win for the season.

At Baradine the Narromine Jets kept the Magpies winless and scoreless when they notched up 64 points to register a big win.

Apart from the games at Coonabarabran and Warren, the Boronia Cup Challenge game between the Coolah Kangaroos and the Gulgong Bull Terriers shapes as an entertaining affair, and whilst the Roos have swept all before them so far this season, the third placed Gulgong outfit has plenty to gain if they can upset the home side and come away with the prized silverware as well as the highly valued competition points.

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Christie and Hood Castlereagh League, Round 7 scores

League Tag

Coolah 62 (Molly Burgess 3, Brooklyn Blackadder 2, Georgia Bennetts 2, Jasmine Thompson, Sophia Bradley, Breannah Burgess, Monika Mistrevska, Fiona Whirbourne-Martin tries, Blackadder 4, Lisa Jones 2, Mistrevska goals) defeated Gilgandra 0.

Cobar 40 (Taylah Good 3, Brianna Watson 2, Bridgette Negfeldt 2, Sosie Barton tries, Watson 4 goals) defeated Coonamble 4 (Tyla White try).

Dunedoo 66 (Chelsea Gallagher 4, Shelley Cox 3, Hollie Carey, Georgia Price, Alexis Gallagher tries, Price 9 goals) defeated Coonabarabran 6 (Anthea Karavas try, Rachael Barron goal).

Narromine 32 (Rebecca Trethowan 2, Hannah Towns 2, Emily Fardell, Haleigh McCarney tries, Shian Chatfield 4 goals) defeated Baradine 4 (Holly Woodham try).

Warren 16 (Mab Fuller 2, Kaitlyn Brown, Harmonie Morris tries) defeated Gulgong 14 (Lolly Tumpey 2, Chloe Patrick tries, Tumpey goal)

Competition ladder: Coolah 21, Narromine 19, Dunedoo 17, Baradine 15, Cobar 15, Warren 15, Gulgong 11, Coonabarabran 11, Coonamble 9, Gilgandra 7.

First Grade

Coonamble Bears 33 (Dwayne McEwen 2, Kane Wiggins, Brenton Glover, Mark Jones, Jermaine Thurston tries, Glover 4 goals, Jack Kelly field goal) defeated Cobar Roosters 28 (Thomas Plater 3, Lochlan Ford, Tim Hillam tries, Plater 4 goals).

Coonabarabran Unicorns 48 (Brad Fuller 2, Eddie Kuras, Sonny Bill Walker, Nick Willoughby, Sam Pickette, Jordan Baker, Luke Stanton, Jarrod Michael tries, Fuller 3, Willoughby 2, Wally Walker goals) defeated Dunedoo Swans 20 (Tyler Bamblett, Kyzah Louie, Ty Sutherland, Shane Dermott tries, Rory Madden 2 goals).

Narromine Jets 64 (Jake Hellegers 4, Darby Gordon 3, Brent Page, Charlie Isedale, Corey Cox, Jack Isedale tries, Cox 10 goals) defeated Baradine Magpies 0.

Gulgong Bull Terriers 36 (Blake Gorrie 2, Brad James, Matt Stachnyk, Dan Crane, Ricky Constable, Blake Power tries, James 4 goals) defeated Warren Bulldogs 30 (Elias Kennedy 3, Braith Boyd, Lachlan Clark tries, Tom Potter 3, Kennedy 2 goals).

Coolah Kangaroos bye

Competition Ladder: Coolah 21, Coonabarabran 19, Gulgong 17, Narromine 16, Cobar 15, Coonamble 15, Dunedoo 11, Warren 10, Baradine 9.

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Round 8, Saturday, June 21.

Coolah V Gulgong (Boronia Cup Challenge), Coonabarabran V Coonamble, Warren V Dunedoo, Cobar V Baradine, Narromine V Gilgandra (Jess Skinner Cup Challenge).

Check club socials and local media to confirm game times.