The Kurri women ran in three tries to beat a young Cessnock side who never gave in in the match which was part of the Newcastle RL’s  Ladies League Tag triple header showcase at Maitland.

Kurri Kurri led at half-time through a try by Harmony Liddell and sealed the win with second-half tries to Kathleen Maier and Kadi Carr.

The Goannas have the youngest squad in the competition and like the other two Coalfields teams are bridging the gap on the more experienced Newcastle teams.

The victory completed the first 5-0 clean sweep of games between the two Coalfields rivals.

The Bulldogs under-19s started the run with a 22-14 win against the Goannas on Saturday at the Kurri Kurri Sportsground.

Kurri’s open grade team maintained top spot on the ladder and domination of the competition with a 36-12 win.

It was a nail-biter in reserve grade with the Bulldogs just getting home winning 28-26 with Ben Edwards scoring a double for Kurri.

First grade saw Kurri Kurri hold out a very game Cessnock 14-6.