In a cracking game at King George Oval, the hosts held on to stave off a surging Tigers outfit 22-18 on a picturesque Blayney day.

Led by skipper Trent Rose, who was easily the best on the field, Oberon scored the match’s final try in the 72^nd minute through Jackson Brien, his third of the game.

It brought the visitors to within four points and, after a piggy-back penalty, the Tigers ventured deep into Bears’ territory with a full set of six at their disposal.

As time wound down and the Tigers worked the ball forward, a deft Matt Rose grubber kick on the fifth tackle was incredibly trapped by Blayney fullback Josh Rainbow – his side’s best in the win – before he raced 60 metres down field to ease the pressure on the hosts.

It proved the decisive moment of what was an absorbing contest. 

Rainbow was immense for the Bears at fullback, while kiwi lock Rakai-Manaia Tuheke scored two tries in a barnstorming display against what was an undersized Oberon outfit without former NRL prop George Rose, who is still nursing a quad complaint.

Bears coach Dane Howarth was a relieved man at fulltime, with his side’s next clash at Wade Park against defending premiers Orange CYMS shaping up as another must-win clash as Blayney (16 points) attempts to reel in the fifth-placed Mudgee Dragons (18 points).

“I was confident,” Howarth grinned.

“The boys back here (at King George Oval) on a good day, with a big crowd … they were keen to execute.

“(Oberon) made us work for it. I thought it was a good effort.

“They dug deep and towards the last 20 minutes we went away from our structure a bit but they dug deep and stuck in.”

Looking very sharp to open proceedings, Oberon crossed early through Brien in just the second minute after Trent Rose split the Bears defence on the halfway line.

It took just five minutes for the Bears to respond though, with Tuheke barging over under the sticks – Lachie Hobby’s successful conversion giving the hosts a 6-4 advantage.

A Trent Rose line break soon led to an Abel Faifua-Lefaoseu four-pointer for Oberon while a Carter Hirini try soon after gave the Bears a 12-8 lead.

The hosts then ramped things up when Tuheke crossed for his second of the first period in near identical fashion to his first four pointer – hitting a gaping hole off a Terawhiti Cooper short ball to touch down under the posts.

Hobby’s conversion gifted the Bears an 18-8 lead at the break.

A fault in their game all season, Blayney drifted out of the contest early in the second half with Brien crossing for his second of the game off a Trent Rose short ball to edge to 18-14.

With 20 minute remaining, Lawrence Fogg pinched the Bears back some points with a sneaky dart down the blind side to score and bump Blayney back out to an eight point lead before Oberon hit back with one final charge, one that ultimately fell short thanks to some Rainbow brilliance.

“We’ll take a win when we can,” Howarth said.

“We’re definitely playing good football in patches, we just need more of it. We’ve had disruptive training. We’re fulltime at Carcoar now and we’re finding a bit of form after injuries

“Next game against CYMS is definitely going to be a hard one. We’ll have to dig deep at training in the next couple of weeks and head over there to give it a red hot crack.

BLAYNEY BEARS 22 (Rakai-Manaia Tuheke 2, Lawrence Fogg, Carter Hirini tries; Lachie Hobby 3 goals) def OBERON TIGERS 18 (Jackson Brien 3, Abel Faifua-Lefaoseu tries; Trent Rose goal).