After being humbled 82-8 by West Lions last week, the Bulldogs bounced back to almost beat North Tamworth, the reigning Group 4 premiers and premiership leaders.

The Bulldogs lost 26-24 in a pulsating game,  club president Ray McCoy said.

“We could have won it but it was a cracking game,”he said.

The Bulldogs’ Greater Northern representative, Aaron Donnelly, was outstanding, he said.

“But all the young kids went well.”

At Manilla Showground, the Narrabri Blues led 24-nil but were run down by the Oxley Diggers, who posted their first win when running out 54-38 winners.

It was the first win for the Diggers, who only started from ground up last year (turn to Page 16 for more).

Group 4 Second Division competition leaders Kootingal Roosters hit the century mark as they overran Manilla Tigers at Kootingal Oval on Saturday.

The Roosters ran in 20 tries as they secured a 116-nil win to remain top of the G4 Second Division Shield.

Co-leaders Dungowan Cowboys also won a tough game, beating Barraba Bulldogs 34-16 at Dungowan Recreation Reserve while Werris Creek Magpies took on Walcha Kangaroos at Walcha’s Captain Cook Park yesterday and had to earn their win against a determined and desperate Roos.

The Magpies won 30-18, with Thomas Brown, Brendan Hunt, Bryce Parsons and Cody Tickle leading the way.

“It was a great effort, in a tough game,”  Werris Creek coach Lindsay Bowne said.

“The boys had to dig deep today.

“We turned over a bit of ball and Walcha were desperate to stay in the semi-final race.”

In Quirindi, the home side was thumped 74-18 by the Bendemeer Mountain Men while the Uralla-Boggabri result at Woodville was unavailable.

It was the Roosters who delivered against a struggling Manilla.

Roosters centre Ryan Martin excelled, converting 18 of the 20 tries as well as scoring two for a 44-point haul.

While big winners, Rooster captain-coach Nathan Hamlin paid tribute to the Tigers.

“They had just 14 blokes but played the full 80 minutes.

“ We’ve had two sides forfeit to us this year and I’d like to thank the Manilla boys for playing,” he said. 

“And we did play well too. The boys could have slackened off but we stuck to our structure.

“Marto had a big day but the two props, Dan Greenwood and Shaughn Stevenson, also played well.” 

Anthony Smith, Andrew Moodie and Jordan Sharpe also impressed.