Revenge was sweet for North Tamworth.
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After being edged by Kootingal-Moonbi at home in round five, the first-placed Bears won the highly anticipated return match at Kootingal Recreation Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
The third-placed Roosters breathed life into the contest with a 70th minute try to Nick Zahra that made it a 22-16 ball game.
But the Bears iced the contest seven minutes later when No 9 and captain Scott Blanch put No 6 Ethan Collins into a hole close the Roosters' tryline.
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Mitch Sherdian converted: 28-16 to Norths, who will take an eight-game winning streak into their Old Boys Day home clash against second-place Dungowan next Saturday.
Coming to Kootingal and beating a strong Roosters lineup was a statement win for Norths, who secured the victory by showing greater penetration inside the oppositions' 20m zone.
That included No 18 Tevita Cegunaivalu crashing over in the 35th minute to give the Bears a 16-6 halt-time lead after halfback Sheridan's conversion.
And when Kooty dropped the ball in their own half and No 11 Josh Schmiedel scooped it up and raced away to score under the posts in the 50th minute, the visitors were in firm control.
They then displayed resolute goal-line defence to protect their lead, with the Roosters' lacking creativity in attack inside the Bears' 20. The home side's handling errors throughout the contest also hurt them.
North Tamworth prop Ben Jarvis said that it was "a gusty effort".
"It's hard to win out here - everything feels like it's against you," he said. "Yeah, a big win. We roll into next week and it's another big challenge; a top of the table clash."
North Tamworth opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Schmiedel charged on to a Blanch pass close to the Roosters' tryline and crashed over.
They never relinquished the lead.
The Roosters were put under more pressure in the eighth minute when veteran No 5 Jeremy York scurried over out wide, after Kooty fumbled a kick. Sheridan converted: 10-0 Bears.
Kootingal-Moonbi got on the scoreboard in the 20th minute when winger Jack Anderson sailed high in-goal to pull in a Sam Taylor cross-field kick uncontested, and then improved the position before executing a half-decent backflip.
Halfback Taylor slotted the conversion and the margin was cut to four points - the closest Kooty got to Norths.
However, back-to-back Roosters tries to No 3 Liam Hatch, who showed good explosiveness close the Bears' tryline, and then Zahra's effort - he dived over in the corner - added some drama to the contest's conclusion.
NORTH TAMWORTH 28 (Josh Schmiedel 2, Jeremy York, Tevita Cegunaivalu, Ethan Collins tries; Mitch Sheridan 4 goals) d KOOTINGAL-MOONBI 16 (Jack Anderson, Liam Hatch, Nick Zahra tries; Sam Taylor 2 goals) Group 4 best and fairest: 3 Scott Blanch (NT), 2 Jacko Brookman (KM), 1 Kobe Bone (NT).
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