And, this time it was the high-flying unbeaten competition leaders Muswellbrook Rams who fell victim to a controlled performance from Singleton 20-8 at Olympic Park on Saturday.

The Dogs came out of blocks early with tries to fullback Will Nieuwenhuise and prop Russell Richards whose skilful 40m effort was almost a bridge too far in his comeback game after a couple of months on the sidelines. 

His was a welcome return following news that 26-year-old captain-coach Jye Bayley will go under the knife for a third shoulder reconstruction next month. 

A Chad Solman penalty goal in the 16th minute stunned the locals with Singleton moving to a 14-0 lead and in all honesty controlled the game thereafter. 

The Rams were a little understrength but it was their discipline that let them down badly as the game wore on.

Trailing 14-4 at the break, Muswellbrook had a player sent off soon after with a high shot on winger Lachlan Preston, who has been a revelation since joining the club early in the season. 

Another Solman penalty goal stretched the margin to 12 points after 46 minutes.

The Rams tried to muster an effort to get back into the fixture but it was Singleton’s Thomas Johnson, who split the defence open on a searching run.

A ruck later, Jake Smith powered over for a try. 

The lead was now 20-4 and the result in safe keeping.

However, Muswellbrook sunk further with another player sent off for dissent with less than 10 minutes remaining. 

An intercept try to the Rams inside the final minute probably took some gloss of what was a stirring victory by Singleton. 

Congratulations to under-18 skipper Zac Butler who came off the bench to make his first grade debut and was certainly not out of place. 

The Remondis Group reserve grade side continues to be a dominate force in the competition and were again impressive in accounting for the third-placed Muswellbrook Rams 26-12.

The Dogs powered their way to a 26-0 lead mid-way through the second half with tries to Scott Matthews, Kyle Bailey, Jacob Rinkin and a double to a fleet footed Zac Howlett. 

The game erupted not long after which resulted in Mitchell Carroll being sent from the field along with his fellow combatant. 

The Rams regrouped better of the two teams and posted the final two tries of the game to take some gloss off the win.

The Singleton Tyre Centre ubder-18s were primed for a strong showing against the unbeaten Muswellbrook side after a couple of weeks of reflection. 

Despite conceding the first try of the game, the Greyhounds started dominating the ruck and worked their way to a 10-6 lead at the break thanks to tries from Hayden Bourke and Zac Butler. 

The second half belonged to Singleton as they bent the Rams’ line with strong tries to Lachlan Fry, Cody Landers and Jayden Maytom. 

Hayden Bourke landed three goals to round out a strong 26-6 victory.

Hopefully, this team has turned the corner and with better execution could well have posted several more tries. 

James Bradley was masterful playing in the lock forward position in an otherwise much better team performance.

The Entire Concrete women’s league tag side was at its defensive best against a crafty Muswellbrook outfit.

Some nice structured played led to Casey Fernance’s opening try and before too long Holly Fisher-Webster crossed to give Singleton a handy 10-0 lead at oranges. 

Tyler Kersley and Maddy Sonter were in great touch for Singleton while Brodie Sinclair was a safe pair of hands under the high ball. 

Alana Fisher-Webster finished the scoring and gave Singleton a strong 16-0 win that pleased coach Matt Kenny no end.

Singleton’s club championship push has been boosted in recent weeks with 11 wins and a draw coming from the past 12 games across the club and they will be hoping to maintain that momentum this weekend with a tricky road trip to Greta Sportsground to battle the Colts. 

Don’t forget the Singleton Old Boys Weekend in two weeks. 

On Saturday, July 1, a 10th anniversary gathering for the 2007 first grade and udner-18 sides will take place at the Singleton Rugby Club. 

Tickets are just $20 and can be obtained by contacting Nigel Papworth on 0419 571 634. 

All players and supporters are welcome. 

Then on Sunday, it’s Old Boys Day at Pirtek Park with a huge game against the Tigers, a must attend event.

First Grade: Greta-Branxton v Singleton @ 2pm

Reserve Grade: Greta-Branxton v Singleton @ 12:30pm

Under 18’s: Scone v Singleton @ 11:20am

League-Tag: Greta-Branxton v Singleton @ 10:15am