BUOYED by the appearance of their "old boys", the Singleton Greyhounds bounced back to form in Bengalla Hunter Valley Group 21 Rugby League at the weekend.
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Following a couple of heavy defeats, the first grade outfit put the cleaners through the under-strength Denman Devils 84-0 at Pirtek Park on Sunday.
With James Bradley and Thomas Johnson returning to the fold, and front-rower Frank Paul Nu'uausala causing numerous headaches, it was a revitalised Greyhounds, who claimed the honours in front of their former players.
The star of the show, however, was Brodie Rinkin.
From the interchange bench, he scored five well-crafted tries in a dominant individual performance.
Rinkin's hat-trick in the opening half, along with Dale Watson, Morgan Amidy and Johnson also touching down, put the Greyhounds in the box seat at 32-0.
Singleton went on with the job in the second period, with Jake Smith, Cody Argent, Amidy, Bradley, Ethan Coe, Rinkin (two), Nelson Gardiner and Zac Solman crossing the line.
Will Nieuwenhuise landed 11 goals from 13 attempts, too.
At McKinnon Field, the Aberdeen Tigers pushed the Scone Thoroughbreds all the way before succumbing 32-26.
The defending premiers led 16-10 at the break, with Tom Pickersgill, Isaac Austin and Joel Harrison putting the points on the board.
Jake Watts also booted two conversions.
For Aberdeen, Travis Bateman scored a double and Haydon Bell added the extras.
The two sides continued to trade blows after the interval.
Scone added four-pointers to Ronin Hadden, Tim Smith and Harrison, with Watts successfully booting a couple of goals.
Aberdeen celebrated a double to Ewan Bartholomew and a try to Daniel Hoogerworth.
Bell raised the touchies' flags again on two occasions.
In reserve grade, the Merriwa Magpies hammered the Greta Branxton Colts 50-0, the Muswellbrook Rams defeated Denman 40-12, Scone held off Aberdeen 22-12 and Singleton proved too strong for the Murrurundi Mavericks 30-4.
The Rams' under-18s beat the Tigers 30-24 and the Greyhounds maintained top spot on the table with a 36-6 win over the Devils.
In league tag, Muswellbrook accounted for Denman 38-2, Scone knocked over a gallant Aberdeen 18-0 and Murrurundi upstaged Singleton 30-4.
Round 11 results
First grade - Scone defeated Aberdeen 32-26, Singleton defeated Denman 84-0
Reserve grade - Merriwa defeated Greta Branxton 50-0, Muswellbrook defeated Denman 40-12, Scone defeated Aberdeen 22-12, Singleton defeated Murrurundi 40-4
Under-18s - Muswellbrook defeated Aberdeen 30-24, Singleton defeated Denman 36-6
League tag - Muswellbrook defeated Denman 38-2, Scone defeated Aberdeen 18-0, Murrurundi defeated Singleton 30-4
Points
First grade - Scone 22, Aberdeen 10, Singleton 8, Denman 4
Reserve grade - Merriwa 20, Scone 19, Singleton 14, Aberdeen 13, Muswellbrook 12, Murrurundi 2, Greta Branxton 2, Denman 2
Under-18s - Singleton 21, Muswellbrook 15, Aberdeen 12, Scone 11, Denman 5
League tag - Scone 22, Murrurundi 18, Merriwa 17, Muswellbrook 10, Singleton 9, Aberdeen 8, Denman 2
Round 12 draw
Saturday, July 27 -
(at Muswellbrook)
1pm: league tag, Muswellbrook v Singleton
2pm: under-18s, Muswellbrook v Singleton
3.10pm: reserve grade, Muswellbrook v Singleton
(at Murrurundi)
2pm: league tag, Murrurundi v Aberdeen
3pm: reserve grade, Murrurundi v Aberdeen
Sunday, July 28 -
(at Aberdeen)
11.20am: under-18s, Aberdeen v Scone
12.30pm: reserve grade, Scone v Greta Branxton
2pm: first grade, Aberdeen v Singleton
(at Denman)
12.30pm: league tag, Denman v Merriwa
1.30pm: reserve grade, Denman v Merriwa
3pm: first grade, Denman v Scone