Portland Colts journeyed to the Tony Luchetti Sportsground last Saturday for their Mid West rugby league clash against arch rivals the Lithgow Bears and came away with the two competition points after winning 42-24.

Gaining the two competition points was probably the only good thing to come out of the match as both teams were guilty of many handling errors and a general lack lustre performance.

No doubt coach Chris Brown and the whole team realise this and will work hard in the remaining matches leading up to the finals.

The Colts immediately went on the attack from the kick off and a fine run by Craig Brown put them in a good scoring position which broke down at the final stanza.

This, along with a couple of other chances, went astray however they were still first to score.

With play deep in the Bears’ half a final offload to Chris Brown saw him shrug off a couple of would be tacklers to score near posts.

With Mark Griffiths adding the extras the Colts lead 6-0.

The Bears hit back from the kick-off with a short kick.

The ensuing scrappy play saw the ball kicked through for the Bears to post their first try which was converted to level the score at 6-all.

The Bears then made one of their many fundamental errors, knocking on at the scrum base deep in their own half which allowed the Colts to go on the attack.

After a couple of tackles Chris Brown ran on to the ball to score their second try which was converted by Mark Griffiths to once again take the lead at 12-6.

From this point the Colts did put some of their best play together to post a further two tries firstly with some good ball work deep in their own half and a fine break by Dave Millmore who gave the final pass to Craig Brown to score wide out which was converted by Griffiths.

Portland were again in when they gathered up a loose ball and a determined run by Keith Dunleavy to give the final pass to Wayne Taylor who scored to stretch the lead to 20-6.

The Bears reduced the lead after receiving a penalty deep in the Colts half and the ensuing play saw the Bears’ centre Mark Denley allowed to run at will with some poor defence to score a converted try.

The Colts went to the break leading 20-12.

Portland suffered a setback just prior to the break with Jason Whitney receiving a knock, not returning for the second stanza.

The Bears’ woes continued from the kick-off for the second half when they knocked the ball on.

From the ensuing play Brett Grabham made a good determined run to score which was converted to stretch the lead to 26-12.

From this point there was some very sloppy play from both sides.

The Bears were next to score after making a break and managed to contain a fumbling ball to score which was unconverted to take the score to 26-16.

The Colts had a number of chances after this try when parked close to the Bears line a number of times, but play broke down with tries in the offering.

However they still managed to control play courtesy of some poor play from the Bears and were able to post a further three tries firstly after some good ball work and the final pass to Chris O’Neill who made a fine dash for the line to score.

This was followed up with some good work by Keith Dunleavy on the Bears’ line to score which was converted by Craig Brown.

The Colts then found themselves once again close to the Bear line and from the play the ball Chris Brown outwitted the defence to score and with brother Craig adding the extras the Colts had set up a winning lead with a scoreline of 42-16.

Late in the half the Colts had lost both their halves when Mark Griffiths was forced to leave the field.

The defence became a little wanting which allowed the Bears to score two late tries to bring up the final score of 42-24.

Despite the overall lack lustre performance there were some good efforts with hardworking forward Brett Grabham tireless throughout.

Grabham scooped the pool with the awards taking out the Players’ Player award, gaining three points in the Group awards and also the Joe Walsh Memorial award, with two points going to Craig Brown and one point to Shane West, who continues to improve each week.

Chris Brown once again showed his dominance and leadership and picked up two points in the group awards for his effort.

Dave Millmore ran strongly and defended well in the backline and Taylor also worked tirelessly in the forwards.

The Colts should retain their position on the competition ladder when they play Blackheath at Kremer Park this Sunday, but they will have to improve on last week’s performance to maintain their position and run to the finals.

Many thanks to the Bears and Ray Smith of the Court House Hotel for the hospitality accorded one and all after Saturday’s match.

The club’s social event is to be held at the Portland Golf Club on Saturday August 2, which will also feature sumo wrestling, so come along enjoy the night with the boys and try your hand at the wrestling.

See you all at Kremer Park this Sunday at 2.30 pm when the Colts will host the Blackheath Blackcats in an all-important match for Portland.