The Orange CYMS pairing of five-eighth Nick Murphy and centre Jesse Buchan played a role in five of the eight tries Group 10 scored, while Bathurst Panthers duo Jackson Carter and John Mackay united for another.

But it was not just in attack they clicked well together. Their defensive efforts in the opening minutes of both halves also played a role in setting up Group 10 for its first under 18s win over Group 11 since 2018.

"Nick and Jesse, it is a pretty good combination it goes back a long way and they play together at club level as well, it really showed today. But there were a lot of combinations from club that we were lucky enough to carry into here," Group 10 coach Matt Lawson said.

"Our defence was pretty good, they just trust each other.

"It was one of those things we spoke about, we always knew they were going to be tough and we spoke about how they were going to be tough and quick to start with.

"At half-time we spoke about it again, we knew they'd come out hard again. I said to the boys that we just had to make sure we do the right thing and all do our jobs. We had to weather it out, then we knew it would open up again."

It was Group 11 who applied the early pressure, spending the first five minutes camped on Group 10's line.

But the hosts absorbed that pressure then snatched momentum back off their rivals and Buchan had plenty to do with it.

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He stepped his way through the Group 11 defence on the right edge in an eighth-minute movement which saw the ball pass through more four sets of hands and end in a Tom Negus try.

Another Buchan line break saw Group 10 in again in the 11^th minute, Riley Robinson crossing as he backed up his centre.

Five minutes later it was 16-0 thanks to Kaden Williams, the second rower slicing between defenders on the right side.

Group 11 lifted as half-time approached, forcing a line drop out then on the final play of the set which followed, quick hands had winger Noah Strickland over in the right corner.

But with one minute left on the clock Group 10 skipper Mackay charged over, putting his side in control with a 22-4 lead.

Group 11 needed to be the first to score in the second half and they were, a nice Tyrone Tattersall pass putting winger James Parsons into a hole. Tye Sutherland converted to make it 22-10 and with 21 minutes left, his side was back in the contest.

Or so they thought.

Group 10 scored off its next two sets and it Williams who chalked up both. His first came thanks to a smart inside ball from CYMS club-mate Murphy, the second orchestrated by Buchan.

With 12 to go Murphy and Buchan were at it again. The five-eighth made the line break, his centre arrived in support and threw the final pass to help Kade Cotter over.

Group 10 added one more try after the siren, Mudgee's Charlie Stoffers icing the victory.

Group 11 skipper Blake Merritt said there was "plenty of pride in the jumper" shown by his team-mates, but he conceded his rivals executed better.

"Group 10 they were too strong on the day, we only had one training session, which I guess was the same as them, but yeah they were really organised," he said.

"We aimed up from the start, but maybe it was just a lack of confidence from some of the guys who hadn't played in the team before and we dropped off.

"We came back in the second half which is something we talked about, but they were just too strong."

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