Lower Macleay Magpies looking to bounce back with a win in Harrington

After a strong round one 36-16 win against Lake Cathie Raiders, the Magpies suffered a different fate against Long Flat Dragons in round two, losing 30-4.

Dragons halfback Travis Harris proved near impossible to stop as he scored a hat-trick in the first half with the score at 18-0.

The away side clawed back some momentum fifteen minutes into the second half with a try to Robert Fernando.

With strong defence and ball movement, the score stayed at 18-4 until the Dragons took over in the final ten as back-rower Damian Osborne went over twice to seal victory.

Heavy rainfall certainly played a factor as the Magpies struggled to maintain possession.

"It rained all day, there was puddles of water everywhere so it was hard to control the ball," Magpies coach Mike Davis told the Argus.

"Long Flat controlled the ball well - all credit to them they didn't make as many mistakes as we did."

"We just didn't stick to our game plan, the weather played a role but we can't play like that."

Davis, who is approaching his third game as a coach, is getting the full experience the role brings.

"It's been quite challenging, the first game was good - we stuck to our game plan and played pretty well despite the Raiders chucking some curve balls at us but the second game, the weather played a big part but in saying that we've got to stick to our footy," he said.

"We had a lot of injuries but we've got players that'll fit right into those positions."

The Magpies will look to post their second win of the season this weekend while Harrington are coming off a first round bye and 26-10 defeat to the Marlins.

"Against Harrington we just have to control the ball more, less errors - we've made a lot, we just need our players to put their hands up and we'll be fine," Davis explained.

"It's going to be our third game together so we'll start coming along, we're all starting to gel together.

"You've got to take the wins with the losses.

"We will have a full squad available, some key players out but there's people there that can step into those positions."

Meanwhile, the Magpies ladies side kicked off their season with a strong victory over the Dragons.

The girls led 16-0 at the half-time break and went on with the job to finish 28-6 winners.

Nikita Binge was on fire with two tries while Fiona Rosten, Kirri-Lee Cutmore, Michelle Melody and Taylor Kelly-Scholes all scored one each.

In the other Hastings League fixtures, Comboyne Tigers made it two from two with a 26-16 win over the Laurieton Stingrays.

Lake Cathie Raiders suffered a 54-0 slaughter to the Beechwood Shamrocks showing they're one of the teams to beat.

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