Beware of the ‘Derby Hangover’. Randwick, Easts and Manly all lost a week after battling brutal local derbies, while Warringah needed a bit of luck to fight back and claim a controversial 29-26 victory over Sydney Uni.

Elsewhere, Souths beat West Harbour to claim their first win of the season and Hunter came from behind to beat the Two Blues. Catch up on all the round five action below.

Northern Suburbs 20-19 Randwick

Norths gained a little revenge over Randwick for last year’s grand final loss by holding on to claim a tight 20-19 victory over the defending premiers in a scrappy game at North Sydney Oval. 

Norths dominated the battle up front early and opened the scoring when No.8 Ed Timpson crashed over from close range in the 6th minute. 

Randwick, boosted by the inclusion of Max Jorgensen, responded with a try from a driving maul. 

But Norths pushed further ahead after a penalty goal and a second try to Timpson scored on the back of a dominant five metre scrum. 

Norths led 15-7 at the break and although Max Jorgensen hobbled off with a hamstring injury, Randwick fought their way back into the match early in the second half. 

After earning a scrum penalty, the Wicks attacked with advantage and scored through reserve back Zac Carr in the corner soon after. Andrew Deegan converted from the sideline to reduce the deficit to just one point. 

Despite the slippery conditions, both sides looked to spread the ball after exhausting their attack up front. 

Matt Ryan found space and scored out wide in the 63rd minute to give Norths a six point advantage but Randwick responded in similar fashion inside the final 10 minutes through Jayden Blake. 

Andrew Deegan missed the sideline conversion, which left Norths with a 20-19 lead. 

The Galloping Greens attacked after the full time siren, but a turnover from Nathan Russell on halfway sealed a narrow win for the home side. 

Eastwood 39-36 Easts – Image by Serge Gonzalez

Eastwood scored in the 80th minute to snatch back the lead and claim an important 39-36 victory over former coach Ben Batger and a handful of former Woodies. 

Eastwood led 13-7 at the half time break but things opened right up in a wild and seesawing second half. 

Archie Gavin barged over following a Harry Wilson break to give Easts a 14-13 lead minutes into the second stanza. 

But Eastwood responded with two quick tries, first from a quick tap by JL Bacon, then from a turnover on halfway that led to a Harry Snook try. 

Trailing 27-14, former Woodie Harry Wilson broke through again to set up a try for Jamie Adamson in the 55th minute but an intercept five minutes later led to Harry Snook’s second try of the afternoon and a 34-21 Eastwood lead.

Looking to protect their unbeaten record at home this year, Easts scored from a driving maul in the 64th minute, then crossed again two minutes later through winger Callum Randle to trail by just one point. 

The home side then kicked what looked to be a match winning penalty goal in the 77th minute after dominating an Eastwood scrum. 

But with two minutes remaining, Easts kicked the ball back to Eastwood and the Woodies took full advantage, spreading the ball to JL Bacon who dived over in the Woollahra Oval corner in the 80th minute to seal a crucial win for Dave Telfer’s young side. 

Warringah 29-26 Sydney Uni

Warringah scored three tries in the final 10 minutes to claim an incredible, albeit fairly controversial 29-26 victory over Sydney Uni. 

Uni led 21-10 at the half time break following a first half hat trick from big lock Clem Halaholo and pushed further ahead early in the second half when George Clark scored after a clever chip from flyhalf Sam Bignold. 

The Students looked to be cruising to victory until Connor Hickey scored a classy individual try from the bench in the 71st minute. 

The Rats earned a penalty from the following restart and attacked with a driving maul deep in Uni territory minutes later. Uni received a yellow card while defending the first maul, then conceded a try from the second and suddenly led by just four points with five minutes remaining. 

Attacking inside their own half, Warringah fullback Ben Marr threw a forward pass to Conor Hickey that was missed by both the referee and linesman, allowing Hickey to race downfield. 

He chipped ahead and while Uni fullback Tom Morrison looked to have grounded the ball in-goal, the referee deemed that Morrison dived over the ball, allowing Hickey to score his second and give the Rats an unlikely 29-26 lead. 

Uni attacked from a driving maul five metres from Warringah’s line with the final play and had a chance to take the points from a match they should have won, but spilled the ball at the back of the maul, handing victory to the visitors. 

Gordon 34-14 Manly

Gordon produced their best performance of the year to dominate the Marlins at a wet Manly Oval in an impressive 34-14 victory. 

Stags hooker Will Bremner crossed from close range in the 12th minute to open the scoring before Manly responded with a try from a driving maul. 

The Gordon forwards dominated the battle up front and eventually found plenty of space out wide as a result, scoring through Will Kaye, then Brandon Quinn in the western corner to take a 17-7 lead to the break. 

Bremner then crossed for his second try from close range minutes into the second half to extend the lead to 17 points. 

The Stags kicked a penalty goal, then scored from a maul in the 71st minute to lead 34-7 before a disappointing Marlins outfit scored a late consolation try. 

Southern Districts 24-21 West Harbour

Southern Districts defended their line stoically for the best part of 10 minutes to hold on for their first win of 2024. 

After losing two tight matches in three weeks, the Rebels outlasted the Pirates in a tight contest at a wet Concord Oval. 

The home side opened the scoring in the 6th minute when winger Callum Sirker stepped his way to the try line. 

But Souths responded with a try to Oscar Schmidt-Uili on the back of some fantastic footwork from fullback Issac Ratumaitavuki-Kneepens, then kicked two penalty goals to lead 11-7. 

West Harbour responded with a try from close range to backrower Sione Tau, but Souths took an 18-14 lead to the break after a long range individual try to scrumhalf Liam Blyde. 

Callum Sirker scored his second try early in the second half when he scooped up a grubber that had been spilled deep in Souths’ territory, but both defences really tightened up from that point on. 

Souths levelled the scores with a penalty goal in the 53rd minute, then kicked themselves to a three point lead in the 72nd minute. 

West Harbour attacked deep in Souths territory for the remaining minutes, but couldn’t find a way through Joe Barakat’s goal line defence. 

Hunter 17-15 Western Sydney

Hunter fought back from 15-7 down to claim an important 17-15 victory over Western Sydney in a match the finished under lights in Newcastle. 

Hunter opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a clever backline set piece play from an attacking five metre scrum.

The Two Blues responded late in the first half when flyhalf Reece Suesue split the Wildfires defence and set up Nik Vikena for a five pointer. 

The visitors then added a penalty goal and led 10-7 at the break. 

Hunter centre Tom Watson looked to have scored 10 minutes in to the second half but was held up over the line. The Two Blues then moved the ball down the field straight away and scored through Nik Vikena to lead 15-7. 

Hunter kicked a penalty goal to reduce the deficit to just five points, then struck with a fantastic backline play, eventually scored by Issac Ulberg to take a 17-15 lead in the 75th minute. 

The Two Blues attacked deep in Wildfires territory in the final minutes but opted against setting up for a field goal. 

The Wildfires defended well and eventually caused a turnover through backrower Elyjah Crosswell to seal a tight two point win.