A furious second-half rally has guided the Batemans Bay Tigers to a 36-34 victory over the Merimbula-Pambula Bulldogs at the Pambula Beach Sporting Complex.
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It was the first time since the 2015 season the Tigers had won back-to-back games, and they now find themselves on top of the Group 16 ladder.
The home side raced out to a quick 10-0 lead, as Dylan Fletcher and Jake Mikula both scored in the first 13 minutes of the match.
The Bay would stem the flow though, and a try to Tom Bollard in the 22nd minute brought them to within four.
Merimbula-Pambula would retake the ascendancy in the latter stages of the first half, as Jared Cole and Ryan Becker sandwiched a Luke Farmer try to give the Bulldogs a 22-12 halftime lead.
Needing a second-half rally, the Tigers jumped out of the half-time blocks with a try to last weekend’s hat-trick hero Sean Deaves.
Tom Bollard followed up five minutes later for another try, and the Tigers took their first lead of the match with Luke Farmer’s conversion.
The Bulldogs reply was instantaneous, with Zach Mikula crashing over two minutes later to give the Bulldogs a 28-24 lead.
It was only a momentary break in momentum for the Bulldogs though, as the Tigers scored two more tries through Peter Lett and William Bruce to build a 36-28 lead with just over five minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs made things interesting in the final minutes, with Blake Schafer scoring a try, but they ran out of time as the Tigers won their second straight.
Merimbula-Pambula are at home again next week, as they host the Bombala Blue Heelers at the Pambula Beach Sporting Complex.
The Batemans Bay Tigers will have the bye in round three.
