It would be grossly unfair to suggest that Blayney didn’t deserve to win their Group 10 premier league clash with Bathurst Panthers yesterday at King George VI Oval, but it is likely the Bathurst side will play far worse this season and get the points.

Todd Barrow’s men went down 26-20 to a determined Blayney outfit in atrocious conditions yesterday, despite outscoring their opposition five tries to four.

They played the second half without star fullback Jeremy Gordon, and even without him they looked like a side in control for almost the entire 80 minutes.

Superior goal-kicking and an ability to make the best of their opportunities saw Blayney do enough to earn their second consecutive win to start the season. 

“We can’t blame the result on goal-kicking, we didn’t do our kickers any favours with where we scored our tries, and the fact that we weren’t improving our position when getting across the line,” player-coach Barrow said.

“Blayney played good footy and probably looked after the ball a bit better than we did, especially given the conditions. Maybe on a dry track it would have been a totally different game.

“We were probably all at fault in some way, but the good thing is that we had a bright start to the season last week against Orange Hawks, a positive pre-season, and we’re going to get better from this.”

Barrow was probably a little harsh on his side in some aspects. Their completion rate hovered around 70 per cent for most of the game, which started at the same time as a huge downpour that included a hail-storm.

Panthers opened the scoring in the third minute when a towering Jeremy Gordon kick brought a Blayney error, and Jye Barrow crossed on the first play from the scrum. 

He wasn’t able to convert his four pointer though, and that theme carried through the match.

After soaking up some pressure on their own line, Panthers were in again when Blake Lawson went on a good run down the right edge from a Todd Barrow pass, but Blayney struck back with a bit of good fortune not long after.

A chip kick from Matty Fuller looked to be covered by Gordon in his own in-goal, only to land right on the black dot of the cross-bar and bounce into space over the try-line. 

Carter Hirini was on the spot to plant the ball down and with a conversion to Lochie Hobby, Blayney were back in the game at 8-6 down.

Quick hands saw Mitch Davis score Panthers’ third in the 26th minute, but the game turned definitively in the shadows of half-time thanks to second-rower Deryne McKenzie.

He charged down a Todd Barrow kick in an act of desperation, and half Luke Petrie followed it through, toeing it towards the try-line.

It sat up perfectly in the mud and he plonked it down to score their second, and Hobby’s conversion locked scores up going to half-time.

Again from a kick, Petrie scored his team’s third just after the break, but a mistake from the hosts led to a second Davis try when Claude Gordon put a smart grubber in on the second tackle.

But yet another missed conversion – all of which had been from the sideline – meant they still trailed.

A big run from Rakai-Manaia Tuheke led to Blayney’s fourth try and at 24-16 the rubber band was starting to stretch, though Panthers had a few shots left in them yet.

Jye Barrow’s second unconverted try with 12 minutes remaining kept the door ajar, but a controversial penalty with six minutes to go saw Blayney go 26-20 clear, but right up until the last play of the match – a kick into the Bears’ in-goal – Panthers pressed for a draw.

Leigh Monaghan put on some bruising hits against his old team for Panthers, as did Brent Seager. 

Hooker Nick Loader continued his good form, while McKenzie, Petrie and hooker Bobbie Brown were among the stand-outs for Blayney. 

BLAYNEY BEARS 26 (Luke Petrie 2, Carter Hirini, Rakai-Manaia Tuheke tries; Lochie Hobby 5 goals) defeated BATHURST PANTHERS 20 (Jye Barrow 2, Mitch Davis 2, Blake Lawson tries)