Newington scored a converted try in the final minutes of a thrilling opening round GPS clash at Bellevue Hill to upstage Scots 27-26. 

Elsewhere, Joeys defeated a resilient Shore outfit and Riverview were too good for Kings. 

At Scots, Newington dominated possession and territory early and jumped away to a 6-0 lead. 

Scots hit back and scored the opening try through a perfectly placed cross field kick by flyhalf Henry James but had few answers for a barnstorming run by Newington hooker Lipini Ata moments later, as Newington claimed a 13-5 lead. 

A Scots’ driving maul try and a Newington penalty goal saw the visitors take a 16-12 advantage to the break, which they extended early in the second half.

From an attacking scrum, winger Siteni Taukamo threw a beautiful cut out pass to fullback James McGregor who scored in the corner. 

Trailing 21-12, Scots hit back with a penalty goal, then a try from a driving maul to reduce the deficit to just one point. 

The home side then hit the lead for the first time in the match in the 65th minute after breaking the Newington defensive line on half way and scoring several phases later. 

Newington weren’t done with yet though. The visitors worked their way down the field on the back of consecutive penalties and controlled possession to within metres of Scots’ try line. 

Despite some stubborn Scots’ defence, backrower Jayden Viliamu eventually found the chalk before Taukamo calmly slotted the conversion to take a one point lead. 

Scots had time for a restart but couldn’t regain possession, as Newington claimed a memorable round one victory at Bellevue Hill. 

At Northbridge, Joeys produced a polished performance and scored four tries in a 24-12 victory over a resilient Shore outfit. 

The visitors set up the win with three first half tries to lead 17-5 at the half time break. The opening try was started with a clever kick from inside Joeys’ half by flyhalf Joey Fowler. Fullback Max Jorgensen regathered and passed to Miles Minto who raced away to score. 

Shore hitback midway through the second half with a try from a big Tom Klem left foot step and reduced the deficit to 12 points but the result never really looked in doubt. 

Despite that, Shore’s defence repeatedly repelled Joeys in the final 15 minutes and will trouble teams throughout the 2022 season. 

At Kings, back to back tries midway through the second half helped Riverview open their season with a 26-17 victory over Kings. 

Riverview led 12-0 early, following two first half tries. The second came from a fantastic set piece play that moved through six sets of hands in the Iggies’ backline. 

Kings hit back with a try from close range, then levelled the scores just seconds after the half time break when Riverview’s clearance kick was charged down. 

But the visitors took control from that point on. 

Scrumhalf Nick Lamming found space near the ruck and offloaded to centre Max Threlkell who scored to retake the lead, before fellow centre Jullien Caillol pounced on a mistimed grubber and raced away to give his side a 26-12 advantage. 

Kings flyhalf Ben Dufficy scored a solo try inside the final 10 minutes but Riverview limited Kings’ chances in the dying stages. 

Newington, Joeys and Kings all head into representative and school holiday break undefeated. Joeys and Newington meet in round two on July 23, while Kings host Shore and Riverview take on Scots.