Sunshine Coast Falcons 28 d PNG Hunters 26
The Sunshine Coast Falcons held out a fast-finishing PNG Hunters side to deny them their first win of the 2019 season, holding on to win 28-26 at Port Moresby's National Football Stadium.
It was a tight tussle, with the visitors holding a two-point 18-16 lead at the halftime break.
The Falcons crossed early in the second half through forward Daniel Dole and Nathan Saumalu for his second try after handling errors and poor defensive reads from the Hunters gave them the opportunity.
Two tries in the space of 10 minutes was enough to deny the Hunters despite a spirited comeback.
Next weekend the Falcons will be at home on the Sunshine Coast against the Norths Devils.
Easts Tigers 22 d Ipswich Jets 20
Easts had strong wins over Mackay Cutters and Norths Devils in their first two games and held on for another victory against long-time rivals Ipswich Jets on Saturday.
The Tigers were boosted with the late inclusion of Melbourne Storm contingent Billy Walters, Pat Kaufusi, and Albert Vete.
Jets were first on the scoreboard after Tigers gave away a penalty on their line but it didn't take long for Easts to respond, with fullback Matt Cooper crossing for the first try of the match after heavy contact from Albert Vete forced a turnover.
It was mostly one-way traffic in the first half, with Walters regathering his own kick and diving under the posts to give his side a 16 point buffer at the half time break.
When Tigers lock Bennett Leslie was sin-binned four minutes into the second half the Jets capitalised with the extra man in attack, however the Tigers proved too strong and held on for a 22-20 victory.
Easts will face the PNG Hunters in round four.
U20 Victoria Thunderbolts 21 U20 Canberra Raiders 21
The U20 Victoria Thunderbolts shared the points with the Canberra Raiders in a drawn NRL curtain raiser at GIO Stadium on Friday night.
The visiting side started strong in the Jersey Flegg Cup round two clash, with the Thunderbolts taking a 14-0 lead after 22 minutes with tries to Matt Stimson and Fua Schwalger and a penalty goal.
Raiders scored two late tries before half time to reduce the margin to 14-10 at the break.
Raiders crossed early in the second half to hit the lead, before a superb try to Thunderbolts fullback Troy Hanita-Paki handed the lead back in the 56th minute.
The Raiders crossed again with nine minutes remaining but missed the goal from the sideline to keep the scores level at 20-20.
With three minutes left on the clock, Raiders kicked a field goal to take the lead.
After the siren the Thunderbolts received a penalty on halfway and, after kicking for touch, halfback Trent Toelau nailed a field goal from 38m out and 15 in from touch to draw the game.
U18 South Sydney Rabbitohs 34 d U18 Victoria Thunderbolts 30
The U18s Thunderbolts suffered heartbreak again, going down by four points to the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Saturday at Casey Fields.
The Rabbitohs came out firing, crossing for two tries in the first six minutes to lead 12-0.
The Thunderbolts responded, crossing for three straight tries to lead 16-12, before Souths crossed again to level scores with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
Sione Finau’s second try of the match gave the Thunderbolts a 20-16 lead at Halftime.
The home side extended its lead early in the second half through prop Adidis Karora before the Thunderbolts were reduced to 12 players and Souths hit straight back to narrow the margin to four points.
Fullback Dean Ieremia crossed for his second try after a long range effort to put the Thunderbolts out to an eight point lead with 20 minutes remaining.
However with the extra player on the field, Souths wore down a tired defence in the final 10 minutes crossing for two tries to steal victory.
