Narrabri Rugby Club were keen to kick off the second half of the Central North Rugby Union campaign on the front foot on Saturday but were beaten in first and reserve grade by the Quirindi Lions at Dangar Park.
The Blue Boars’ reserve grade side went down 32-21 in the first game of the day before the first grade side lost 32-22.
The first grade fixture was a battle for second place as Moree Bulls went down 25-12 against the first-placed Gunnedah Red Devils to drop to fourth.
Both sides at Dangar Park overtook the Bulls but it was Quirindi that climbed from fourth into second as Narrabri remained third.
They were locked at 17-all at half-time before the Lions outscored the home side 15-5 in the second stanza.
Quirindi had opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Tom Clare kicked a penalty goal, but Narrabri went ahead seven minutes later when Jock Small converted a Joe Baker try to make the score 7-3.
That became 12-3 in the 20th minute when Will Ciesiolka scored Narrabri’s second try while they were playing a man short after James Baker was yellow-carded in the 15th minute.
The contest was temporarily 14 on 14 from the 20th minute when Sam Avard was yellow-carded for Quirindi, but the Lions then hit back as Baker returned for the Blue Boars with a converted try in the 25th minute to reduce their deficit to two points.
Charlie Turner crossed for Narrabri’s third try of the day in the 29th minute to put the hosts in front 17-10, but another converted try in the 36th minute saw Quirindi level it up at 17-all.
The Blue Boars did have a chance to take a three-point lead into half-time but Small missed a penalty goal and it remained all square.
The Lions piled on 15 points in the first 20 minutes of the second stanza through a penalty goal and two tries, one of which Clare converted on the hour-mark to put his side in front 32-17.
Narrabri hit back with a try in the 68th minute as Jake Packer crossed to make the score 32-22, and the hosts received another advantage with just six minutes remaining when Mitchell Evans was issued a yellow card and the Lions again went down to 14 men.
However, the away side held on at the death to register a 10-point win and climb above Narrabri and Moree and into second.
The Blue Boars did pick up one bonus point for scoring four tries, which helped them stay in third spot as they joined Moree on 27 points but overtook them on for and against difference. The 2024 grand finalists now trail Gunnedah (34) by seven points and Quirindi (30) by three points with five rounds remaining.
Inverell (19) ended the weekend in fifth place after scoring a 47-36 home ground win against Tamworth Pirates (15).
Meanwhile, Narrabri’s reserve grade loss saw them finish the weekend in fifth with 19 points.
Moree (39) are well out in front, and the other top-four sides are Quirindi (28), Barraba (26) and Pirates (20). Inverell (15) and Gunnedah (6) are sixth and seventh.
The Blue Boars had a bye in the women’s 10s competition and ended the weekend six points clear at the top of the table.
The second-placed Pirates demolished Inverell 80-5 while Moree outscored Gunnedah 36-22 to edge closer to the top four.
The points tallies in the women’s competition are Narrabri on 39, Pirates on 33, Barraba on 25, Gunnedah on 24, Moree on 22, and Inverell on 9.
The Blue Boars do not play at home again in first grade until next month when they host the Inverell Highlanders on Saturday, August 2. They are away at Gunnedah in round nine this Saturday and then have back-to-back byes in the 10th and 11th rounds before they travel to meet Pirates in Tamworth in round 12 on Saturday, July 26.
The Blues Boars will be back at home next in both reserve grade and women’s 10s when they host Barraba in round 11 on Saturday, July 19.
This Saturday’s first grade and women’s games in Gunnedah will see the respective Kookaburra Challenge Cups up for grabs, with Narrabri the current holders in the women’s competition and Gunnedah the current holders in the first grade competition.
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