The Dungowan Cowboys claimed another large scalp when they beat unbeaten competition leaders Moree 46-18 at the Dungowan Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
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The Cowboys scored in the third minute of the game when co-coach Shaun Ferguson put lock Cody Byrne into a little hole and the lanky number 13 stepped his way over the line and under the posts for a simple Trent Taylor conversion.
It was just the start the Cowboys needed after their gallant win over North Tamworth the previous week and they didn't look back.
A brilliant Liam Mack intercept four minutes later enabled the lanky winger to snaffle a Brenton Cochrane pass on his tryline and he raced 97m for a 12-0 scoreline.
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The Boars replied with a piece of magic from fullback Jamie Sampson, reducing the deficit to 12-4, but the Cowboys took a stranglehold on the game when Ferguson charged over from dummy half in the 19th minute.
And then Cowboys five-eighth Ethan Antzakles produced a defining try - a brilliant chip, chase and regather before slipping a wonderful one-touch pass to fullback Taylor and the home side led 24-4.
Moree showed why they were unbeaten and at the top of the table with a brilliant opportunist try from fullback Sampson and then a 90m intercept from halfback Michael Watton, which dragged them back to a 24-14 deficit at the half-time break.
Moree needed to strike first in the second half and they looked like they had when Cochrane sliced over but he lost the ball when tackled under the black dot.
And then the Boars lost a man when prop Aaron Robinson was sin-binned for a jolting shoulder charge on Clay Frendin when the young backrower was running a hole close to the Moree tryline.
The Cowboys took full advantage, running in tries through Taylor (49th minute) and Mack (57th minute).
Ahead 32-14, the Cowboys cemented the win when a huge Antzakles bomb spilled from fullback Sampson's hands straight into the arms of Cowboy centre Tevita Peceli. He raced 40m untouched to score and establish a 38-14 lead with just 18 minutes left.
The Cowboys lost hooker Ryan Ingram to the bin for a play-the-ball infringement and even with 12 men, the Cowboys were still able to post two more tries and celebrate another good win that elevated them to equal second on the ladder with Boggabri, Kootingal-Moonbi, North Tamworth and Narrabri (with Boggabri and Kootingal-Moonbi to play on Sunday at Kootingal).
"It was another massive effort," Cowboys co-coach Luke Taylor said.
"We did make some dumb errors in attack today but that was on the back of so much effort in defence. The old brain dies a bit when you have to make so many tackles and Moree are a very dangerous attacking side."
He thought the Cowboys repeated their tremendous defensive effort from the previous week when they refused to let North finish over top of them in an 18-14 epic.
DUNGOWAN 46 (Liam Mack 3, Trent Taylor 2, Tevita Peceli 2, Cody Byrne, Shaun Ferguson tries; Taylor 4 goals) d MOREE 18 (Jamie Sampson 2, Michael Watton, Tom Ryan tries; Adrian Smith goal) Group 4 best and fairest: 3 Taylor (D), 2. Matt Wilson (D), 1 Adrian Smith (M).
FIRST GRADE TABLE (for and against in brackets along with points differential). * Teams to play Sunday: Moree 10 (196-124 PD +74), *Boggabri 8 (158-106 PD +52), *Kootingal 8 (124-120 PD +4), North Tamworth 8 (184-102 PD +82), Narrabri 8 (156-130 PD +26), Dungowan 8 (196-148 PD+48), Werris Creek 4 (142-208 PD -66), *Gunnedah 2 (108-186 PD -78), *Manilla 0 (98-238 PD -140).
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