Image: 11,000 fans watch the 116th clash between Iggies and Joeys at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday. 

Riverview bounced back from last week’s tight loss to Kings to beat Joeys 26-21 in a thrilling derby at Leichhardt Oval in round four. 

Elsewhere, Kings extended their unbeaten start to the season with an impressive win over Scots and Newington were too good for Shore. 

Catch up on all the action from round four of the 2023 GPS competition.

Riverview 26-21 Joeys

Riverview held off a fast finishing Joeys outfit to claim a thrilling 26-21 victory in front of a big crowd at Leichhardt Oval. 

Riverview dominated territory and possession in the opening minutes and scored the first try of the afternoon in the 7th minute when captain Liam Grover crossed near the sideline after a long period of attack on the Joeys’ tryline. 

Joeys, still looking for their first win of the 2023 season, turned to their set piece to work their way back into the match. 

After earning a scrum penalty, Joeys attacked from a lineout and flanker Patrick Young ran a fantastic line to break Riverview’s midfield defence. 

Young offloaded to centre Hunter Fogarty who was tackled 10 metres from the Riverview line before scrumhalf Hwi Sharles threw a perfect 25 metre spiral to winger Ben Chick to score in the corner and give Joeys a 7-5 lead. 

On the stroke of half time, Riverview attacked again deep in Joeys’ territory. Flyhalf Joe Dillon spread the ball cleverly to winger Pat Spora who showed good pace to beat his defender. 

Spora then threw a pass on the inside to Liam Grover who scored his second five pointer of the afternoon to give Riverview a 12-7 lead at the break. 

The Joeys scrum started to really dominate in the second half. 

Attacking on the front foot from a five metre scrum, Joeys playmaker Ben Playford threw two big left foot steps and beat three defenders to score and put his side back in front. 

But an error from Joeys gifted the lead back to Riverview. Attacking from a midfield scrum, Joeys spilled a pass that was thrown deep behind the advantage line. 

Riverview centre Will Hayes toed the ball through and showed good pace to score and put his side back ahead. 

Five minutes later, Hayes then beat his defender and set up a try for scrumhalf Henry Curll to give Riverview a 26-14 lead inside the final 10 minutes. 

Joeys hit back though with a try to impressive flanker Patrick Young in the 67th minute to reduce the deficit to just five points and set up a grand stand finish. 

After marching down the field following back to back penalties, Joeys attacked with a driving maul inside the Riverview 22-metre line with the final play of the game. 

But after spreading the ball to the far wing, a loose pass led to a Joeys knock-on, sealing a 26-21 victory for Iggies. 

Kings 58-26 Scots

Kings scored eight tries in a dominant 58026 victory over Scots and continue their unbeaten start to the 2023 GPS first XV competition. 

The home side spread the ball to Hadley Jackson to open the scoring, then scored from a driving maul and added a penalty goal to claim a 15-0 lead. 

Halves Lachlan Smith and Sam McLachlan then both scored, Smith from the base of a scrum while McLachlan scooped up a loose pass to score, to give Kings a 29-0 lead in the first half. 

Scots centre Onion Large scored a good individual try late in the first half to get his side on the board. He then set up a try early in the second half for winger Aidan Gow, who cross again five minutes later to reduce the deficit to 29-19. 

But that is as close as Scots would get. 

Flyhalf Sam McLachlan beat three defenders to score under the posts to extend Kings lead, before hooker Bailey Park finished off a try set up by centre Tom Watts to give Kings a 48-19 lead. 

Scots added a third second half try from a driving maul, but a penalty goal and a good individual try by Kings winger Luke Maroun sealed a comfortable win for the competition leaders. 

Newington 31-5 Shore

Newington fullback Tallis McEwan had a hand in four Newington first half tries to help his side set up a comfortable 31-5 victory over Shore. 

McEwan was in the action early when he linked with Casey Maclean to find space. The speedster was eventually tackled just short of the line, but when a Shore defender knocked down a pass from the ensuing phase, Newington were awarded a penalty try. 

A few minutes later, McEwan created space with a clever inside ball and set up inside centre Matteo Cleverley for a five pointer. 

The home side then scored the try of the match which started from a scrum inside their own quarter.

McEwan used speed and footwork to beat two defenders before offloading to winger Stanley Martin. Martin passed back on the inside to Casey Maclean in support, who then passed back to Martin to finish a brilliant five pointer. 

McEwan then linked with Tom Farr-Jones on the opposite wing to set up Newington’s fourth try and give his side a 26-0 lead at the half time break. 

Shore hit back with a try to winger Angus Molchanoff early in the second half, but Newington remained in control and sealed the win with another impressive five pointer in the final minutes of the match. 

No.8 Josh Va’alotu delivered a brilliant offload around a defender to hooker Lipina Ata who raced away to score and seal the 31-5 victory. 

After losing two tight matches to start the season, Newington have gone on to win their last two fixtures and are in third position heading into round five this Thursday.