What better way to kick off the group 10 season for the Mudgee Dragons than claiming a 24-12 win over the Cowra Magpies at Glen Willow Stadium on Sunday.
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After a pre-season knockout victory against the Orange Hawks, Mudgee were keen to come out on top.
Tom Lawson was first to cross the try line, scoring four for the Dragons 15 minutes after the whistle, followed by a Jack Beasley conversion.
Beasley was next to place a try down followed by Harrison Maynard with Corin Smith securing the 20-0 half-time lead for the home side.
Lewis Dwyer got Cowra on the board scoring the first try of the second half, followed by a conversion by Logan Harris.
Dwyer dove for another later in the half some time after Mudgee's Todd Munn pushed through the Cowra defence line to get the last try for the Dragons.
From what everyone was saying, they're the top guys so it was good to see where we are at with getting that first game out of the way.
- Cowra's Joey Bugg
"I'm proud of the effort we all put in. I think the effort was really good today," Beasley said.
"I think what we want to work on is that 12 they scored against us because we scrabbled really well at the start, everyone was shutting the gate."
Cowra's Joe Bugg mentions there were a few things after the middle of the first half that really gave Mudgee the lead.
"We were in it with them for the first 20 minutes and then we had a few drop balls, they put a couple of quick tries on us and we were just chasing our tail, we couldn't really complete sets," he said.
"From what everyone was saying, they're the top guys so it was good to see where we are at with getting that first game out of the way."
It was a tough day for the Magpies all round, with their reserves, under 18s and League Tag teams all losing at Glen Willow, but the club faces a swift turnaround as they turn their attention to Good Friday footy later this week.
The Magpies host the Orange Hawks on Friday afternoon at Sid Kallas Oval, with a seafood platter and club function to be held at the Cowra Services Club following the fixture.
The Magpies will be also bolstered by the return of new recruit Claude Gordon after a one-week suspension stopped him from taking part in the Mudgee game, as the team looks to get their season back on track after this week's loss.
- MUDGEE DRAGONS 24 (Tom Lawson, Jack Beasley, Harrison Maynard, Corin Smith, Todd Munn tries; Jack Beasley 2 conversions) COWRA MAGPIES 12 (Lewis Dwyer 2 tries; Logan Harris 2 conversions).