Plenty was up for grabs between the local rivals, as the win resulted in the Marlins leapfrogging the Magpies on the Hastings League table. The victory also cemented their place in the finals.

Despite the loss, the Magpies have also qualified for the finals as Laurieton defeated Beechwood to end their season. 

With the Marlins playing for their season, they opened the scoring through hooker Josef Barber but it wasn’t long until the scores were once again locked up as the Magpies crossed for a try.

However, that was as close as the Magpies would get as the Marlins were rampant in front of their vocal home crowd.

Jamil Toby, Barber, Sam Drew and Peter Bula crossed for tries in a Marlins blitz before the half-time break to give the Marlins a comfortable 28-6 lead.

The Marlins’ momentum continued into the second forty-minutes as Toby grabbed his second in their first set before Marlins co-coach Sam Howe proved unstoppable on the edge.

The bulldozing forward ran with purpose and the Magpies had no answers to stopping the powerhouse out wide.

Howe crossed for two quick tries and the result was put beyond doubt.

Drew grabbed his second try late in the contest before Howe iced the game in the final minute to complete his hat-trick.

The Marlins will take confidence into their final game of the regular season this Saturday against the Kendall Blues.

The Marlins’ attack has been on fire for the majority of the season but the side will be most impressed with their ability to limit the Magpies to only a try in each half.

Meanwhile the Magpies will look to leapfrog the Marlins with a victory over the bottom-placed Comboyne Tigers.

It is highly likely the Magpies and Marlins will do battle in the first week of the finals, in an elimination match.

The South West Rocks Dockers Under-11s side played a curtain raiser for the Marlins and Magpies contest when they faced off with Port Macquarie’s aussie rules side.

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