Sudden-death deciders see Hamilton pip Belmont; 1-on-6 outplay can't secure win for Rutherford | photos

First off the rank was Raymond Terrace coming up against Cooks Hill, who struggled in the first week and were kept scoreless.

This time around they managed results, but not a positive one for the ladder – the Terrace walked away with a 10-3 win and their first win on the board.

The second match of the evening at Oakdale Arena was closer, with the 7-5 scoreline that favoured Waratah nearly going the other way in the dying minutes of the match.

In the 8^th round of the match, tragedy struck for Rutherford and five of their players were eliminated in the opening rush, leaving just David Franklin facing off against all six Waratah players.

Read: Waratah-Hamilton classic ends equal with tight 6-all draw

4 rapid-fire eliminations for Franklin – and one mistimed catch attempt – left the dangerous Rutherford forward in a 1-on-1 situation with Jakub Lunarzewski.

Franklin, spurred on by supporters and his team bench, was confident and completed the 1-to-6 sweep in emphatic fashion to level out the scores at 4-4.

The heroic performance wasn’t enough to deliver the major result however, and Waratah walked away with the four points to put them, momentarily, alone at the top of the table.

They were soon joined, equal on 6 points, by Hamilton as the defending champions downed Belmont 9-7 in a cagey affair.

With just 2 round points in the match, the 3 sudden-death deciders played throughout the game were put into stark focus – Hamilton claimed two of the three to put themselves up.

Read: Raymond Terrace celebrate 100 matches in the league

The first decider went the way of Belmont, with Liam Janczuk’s fast elimination claiming it, but the next two went the way of the eventual winners.

The first nearly went the other way, as Harry Gibson was able to bag an ‘out’ moments before he was ruled to have been hit, and the second was an executed hike from Alexander McIntyre to Isaac McIntyre to seal the late sudden-death.

The close win levelled Hamilton at the top of the table, equal on point difference and result tiebreakers so far.

Competition Table: Hamilton (6), Waratah (6), Rutherford (4), Raymond Terrace (4), Belmont (4), Cooks Hill (0).

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