The 17-year-old representative gun scored a sensational, individual 70-metre try in the first half before laying on two second half four pointers, one to player-coach Jared Brodrick and the other to Kyle Byrnes, to help Hawks come from 28-20 down and secure the side's first win of the season.

Producing more steps than the Opera House during the two-point win, Kennedy's star rose as Hawks went from winless to the fringe of the Group 10 top five.

"I said to the boys on the sideline," injured captain-coach Brock McGarity began.

"We're relying on a 17-year-old to get us out of trouble. It was won off a bit of will ... which was good.

"We'll go from here, work hard again at training. We're nowhere near where we want to be."

Producing a promising start that netted tries to Lachie Harris, McGarity, before he limped off, and then Kennedy's spirited solo effort, Hawks raced to a 14-point lead but, as has been the story of their first four rounds, lapses in concentration cruelled any solid foundation to work from.

And that was all the invitation an under-manned Oberon needed.

VIDEO: What the captain-coaches had to say after full time:

Fullback Blake Miller was the Tigers' go-to man, and the custodian bagged a first half brace to go with a four-pointer from rampaging Luke Christie-Johnson to send the visitors into the sheds at half-time somewhat surprisingly up 18-14.

The Tigers extended that lead to eight points seven minutes into the second half when Ben Newstead split some wafer thin Hawks goal-line defence, and with the swirling gale at Wade Park almost exclusively favouring Oberon's willing attack, it looked like Hawks' winless run would be extended.

Kennedy, though, had other ideas, and when he busted the Oberon defence, found Deryne McKenzie who then gifted Brodrick a try, Harding's sideline conversion then pegging the score back to 22-20, Hawks looked like lifting with 21 minutes left.

But the two blues appear likely to do things the hard way in 2015, and after watching Newstead race 90 metres after a wayward offload gifted the Oberon three-quarter an easy intercept, the visitors again leapt to that eight-point buffer.

But Kennedy, again, brought Hawks back.

With 15 minutes remaining and just inside halfway, five-eighth Matt Boss sent Kennedy flying down the right hand touchline, before the lightning fast winger zipped in-field, skipping past Miller at fullback before linking with Byrnes, who in turn did well to score on the opposite side of the field to where the play started.

Hawks still trailed 28-24, but the play was telling.

The two blues scored the next two tries to soar to a 36-28 lead before a consolation try to Wayne Sellers reduced the final margin to two points.

The end margin is trivial, however, and McGarity was very happy to remove the monkey from his coaching back in 2015.

"It's good to get the win," he smiled after full-time.

"But that was still very, very poor. We'll take the win, we need the two points, but we had something like 17 errors, that's still way too many."

For a side that had four back up after first division, while also starting without guns Jackson Brien, Kirk Phillips and captain-coach Wade Judd, the Tigers showed enough fight to suggest they'll be far from easy beats for the rest of 2015.

"Certainly the effort was there, we just ran out of legs," Judd said.

"Can't beat the boys up for the effort they put in today ... we've got about nine on the sidelines at the moment.

"It was a great effort. Everyone stood up from one through to 17."

ORANGE HAWKS 36 (Lachie Harris, Brock McGarity, Jedd Kennedy, Jared Brodrick, Kyle Byrnes, Keegan Harding, Mitch Hurford tries; Keegan Harding 4 goals) def OBERON TIGERS 34 (Blake Miller 2, Ben Newstead 2, Luke Christie-Johnson, Wayne Sellers tries; Blake Fitzpatrick 4, Luke Christie-Johnson goals).