The Queanbeyan Blues claimed a tense 12-10 win against the Valley Dragons in the opening game of the season at Seiffert Oval on Friday night.
The Valley Dragons scored the first points of the Specsavers Katrina Fanning Shield season when Nirvana Ngan-Woo barged through the Queanbeyan defence to score after seven minutes.
The Dragons continued to dominate field position early in the match but the Queanbeyan Blues looked threatening once they entered the opposition 20 for the first time midway through the first half.
The Blues opened their account in the 23rd minute as Taylor Thorpe found a gap in the Dragons line and running 50 meters. The halfback linked up with Kody-Leigh Hirst who scored to level the game.
The Dragons hit back immediately, as the halves combination of Ahlivia Ingram and Ngan-Woo caused havoc before the latter offloaded to Jana Teivonen who scored to give the Dragons a 10-6 halftime lead.
Taylor Thorpe once again made a line break for the Blues as the halfback ran 60 metres to score under the posts. Jennifer Ruiz slotted the conversion and gave the Blues the lead for the first time in the match.
The Blues almost had another try in the 45th minute of the match when Jacinta Williams put in a perfectly placed kick for Hirst but she couldn’t reign the ball in.
Williams almost added a cherry on top at the end of the match as she collected a loose ball near halfway and ran towards the try line. However, she was tackled five metres out as the game ended 12-10.
Queanbeyan Blues 12 (Tries: K Hirst, T Thorpe; Goals: J Ruiz 2) d Valley Dragons 10 (Tries: N Ngan-Woo, J Teivonen; Goals: E Ernst)
