Contested in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd, the win should serve to steady the ship after the previous weeks shellacking in Port Macquarie and reignites hope of a home semifinal in the spring.

In-form halfback Byram Stewart set the scoring in motion midway through the first half when he touched down after embarking on a 50 metre weaving dash through the Pirates’  defence for Blake English to convert and a 6-0 lead.

Some handling errors let the Old Bar side back into the game however and the teams went to the break level at 10 all after James Handford finished off an elegant backline move to score in the south eastern corner.

Chris Coulton served up a delightful ball soon after the resumption for Mark Amato to dive over and with English’s successful kick it took the boys in green and gold out to a six point lead.

Skilful lock Chris Simon was taking full advantage of the breese, giving his side excellent field position courtesy of two 40/20s, however the buccaneers were able to repel the Hawks advances.

Both sides traded four  pointers with Beau Lowry touching down out wide to see the scores tied at 20 a piece before the visitors snapped a field goal with 10 minutes remainingto take a 21-20 lead.

A Hawks’  penalty goal attempt from an acute angle narrowly missed and with only a matter of minutes remaining, it looked as though the home side were to go home disappointed until the ever reliable figure of Wynter sliced through the defence and planted the ball down for a three point lead. Wynter has been a stalwart in the Hawks backline for many years now.

A very quietly spoken man, he does his talking on the field and his efforts on the Hawks right side, particularly his ribcage rattling defence, have been second to none over the years.

English converted from out wide to bring about the final scoreline.

The Forster Tuncurry side escaped a late scare when Old Bar regained possession after a short kick off to see out the match and keep their excellent recent home record intact.

Hawks captain Matt Kirkland was again outstanding in the middle of the pitch while ballplaying prop Chris Coulton played his best game of the season so far.

The players’ award went to the inspirational Steve Gavenlock and special mention should go to Jai Martin who played a part in all three senior grades on the day.

The four grades will all make the short trip to Taree’s Jack Neal Oval next Saturday where they will face the Taree City Bulls.

The result of this game will be vital as a win will go a long way towards securing a home semi final for the victor The side return to Tuncurry thefollowing Saturday, August 6 for the visit of the Port Macquarie Sharks, which will be the final home game before the semi-final campaign.

The women will start proceedings at 11.30 am before the first grade encounter kicks off at 3.15.

The women league tag side secured a come from behind 18-6 win over the talented Old Bar outfit.

Two tries from halfback Kylie Hilder and a four pointer from the flying centre Sami Dunk along with three goals from as many attempts from Talara Morris was enough to get the job done.

The lady Hawks, once they get their full complement onto the field, should be able to give this year’s competition a fair shake.

The under 18s are starting to feel the pinch of what has been a long and somewhat difficult campaign.

They went down 56-12 against an older and bigger Pirates squad on Saturday.

The Hawks are quite a youthful side and the vast majority of these young men will still qualify for the under 18s next year, where this season’ s experience will no doubt hold them in good stead.

The Hawks’  reserve grade outfit are coming towards the end of what has been a largely frustrating season.

They were unlucky to go down by eight points on Saturday after dominating the contest for the majority of the day.

Their inability to field the same lineup each week due to injuries and work commitments, among other things has proven costly.