SECOND Division leaders Newsome Panthers made it seven wins out of seven with a hard-fought 22-12 triumph at Dearne Valley Bulldogs.

The home side were hoping their tiny field would prevent Newsome from playing open rugby and bring them into an arm wrestle against the much larger Bulldogs side.

But Newsome proved size isn’t everything as their defence was at its crushing best early on forcing mistakes from the home side.

As a result, the visitors were soon taking control and led 10-6 at the break.

Newsome’s opener came from William Wallace following good work from Thomas Guinan and Matthew Bravo. Then, after the Bulldogs had edged in front, Ben Cuttell broke the line and offloaded inside to Ben Feehan to stride under the sticks and then bang over the conversion.

Dearne Valley went ahead for a second time after 60 minutes to put the pressure on the Panthers.

But Newsome’s team spirit and character came to the fore.

James Wallace broke clear and fed Feehan to score under the sticks and Luke Broady goaled to make it 16-12.

Phil Joseph then crashed over from close range to increase his side’s lead to eight points before Ross Studholme slotted over a penalty with three minutes remaining to seal the win.

And Newsome’s second team continued their unbeaten start to the Division VI season with an 18-14 win over Farnley Falcons and remain at the top of the table.

A superb second-half performance was at the heart of their success as they fought back from a 14-6 half-time deficit to triumph.

Man-of-the-match Martin Robinson scored all three of his side’s tries and Jamie Taylor slotted over three goals.

Coach Alan Boothroyd admitted his team had not performed well but to play like that and still win is a sign of a good team.

But there was a defeat in Division V for Meltham All Blacks, who were beaten 19-16 by Whitehall Warriors.

This proved a good test for Meltham against good opposition and, with a little more composure at key points, the game was there for the taking.

The hosts trailed 12-10 at the break with their points coming through tries from man-of-the-match Gareth Atkinson and Rob Lewis, who also added a conversion.

The second half was very tight with Whitehall scoring one converted try and a drop goal and Meltham scoring a converted try through Atkinson.

Whitehall selected Lewis as best forward and Adam Lodge as best back.