Portland Colts played host to the Blackheath Blackcats in the Mid West competition at Portland’s Kremer Park with the Colts running riot scoring 13 tries in their 70-12 win.

Craig Brown had a fine day with the boot kicking nine goals from 13 attempts.

It was a pleasing effort from the Colts who also took the opportunity to rest a number of players with niggling injuries and the replacements stood up well.

The Colts are not getting carried away with the win with the opposition turning up with the bare team.

Their woes were further compounded with injuries during the match that saw them finish the match without a full compliment.

Nonetheless the win was important for Portland and they were happy with their performance.

Ironically the visitors were first to score following a high kick which was a wake-up call for Portland.

The Colts hit back soon after with some good ball work and Chris Brown took the final pass to score which was unconverted.

From this point the Colts got on top and Chris Brown was in the thick of it again making a fine break fending off players and a fine run to the line to score.

With the conversion the Colts had skipped to 10-4.

This was extended to 16-4 soon after when, from a penalty and tricky work from dummy half Luke Green. The ball was spread for Dave Millmore to cross.

The Colts were continuing to make good ground in attack and were rewarded once again, with the Brown brothers combining for a further two tries before halftime to go in with a 28-4 lead.

It did not get any easier for the visitors after halftime when the Colts received a penalty from the kick-off.

The ensuing play saw Luke Green in the thick of it, giving a quick pass to evergreen Dave Handley who crossed for a converted try.

The score blew out to 40-4 soon after when Brett Grabham made a fine run from the scrum base and gave the final pass to Chris Brown who dived over for a converted try.

The tries kept coming with Scott Hutchison being prominent taking the final pass after some good lead up work to score.

Soon after Colts received a penalty for stripping and he made a fine break to deliver the final pass to Craig Bull who score in the corner which was converted with a fine kick from Craig Brown to extend the score to 50-8.

At this point there was an agreement to reduce the teams to 10 men due to Blackheath's predicament with numbers.

They were the next to score when their winger made a fine break and outpaced the opposition to score, which was unconverted.

The Colts hit back soon after when play was deep in the visitors half and they threw a long pass which was intercepted by Wayne Taylor for a converted try.

This was followed up with some fine ball work close to the Blackheath line and Craig Brown ran on to the ball to score, failing to convert his own try.

The Colts’ worst patch of play in the match followed when they made a number of handling errors giving away possession and also allowing a further six tackles.

Colts paid the penalty allowing the Cats in for a try which was unconverted and the score stood at 60-12.

Blackheath then made a mistake from the kick-off touching in-goal and from the line dropout Dave Millmore ran onto ball and score a converted try.

He was in thick of it from the kickoff making a good run taking play deep into the visitors half.

From the ensuing play, good ball work from Luke Green and determined running from Craig Brown (who also pulled out of a number of tackles) saw brown score which he failed to convert and brought up the final score 70-12.

It was a good all round effort, particularly the reserves who stepped up.

The Brown brothers continued to be an inspiration with Chris contributing to almost every phase of play and fine leadership for a personal tally of 20 points from five tries.

He was well supported by Craig who had a personal tally of 26 points from two tries and nine goals.

They were rewarded for their efforts with Chris taking out the three points in both the Joe Walsh Memorial Trophy and the Group awards, with Craig gaining the two points in both awards.

The one point went to Al Murdoch who had a fine match with good support from the forward pack especially Luke Green who gave good service at dummy half and was looking for work all day.

Scott Hutchison, who turns in a consistent game each week, played well taking a high ball a couple of times and backed up well along with Dave Millmore who is also playing well.

The win was important for the Colts as they get nearer to the finals with only three rounds remaining.

They have a hard match this Saturday when they take on arch rivals Wallerawang at Wang commencing at 2.30 pm.

The Warriors have been in fine form lately and are always a hard nut to crack.

This match should be no exception, as both teams strive for the vital competition points.

The following week the colts have a bye and will take the opportunity to have a social night at Portland Golf Club featuring sumo wrestling, so come along and have a good social night with the Colts.

Portland's next home game will be against Gulgong on Sunday August 10.

Acknowledgment this week to the Portland-Wallerawang Junior League members who do a great job in promoting the juniors.

Special mention to Michael Nicholson for his contribution as a touch judge for last week’s match.

There should be a good crowd of Colts’ supporters to cheer the boys on at Wallerawang Sportsground this Saturday at 2.30 pm.