Yenda Blueheelers 44

Leeton Greens 20

THE Yenda Blueheelers have moved one step closer to defending their Group 20 title after disposing of a disappointing Leeton Greens side by 24 points yesterday.

After being pipped on the bell by the Greens the week before Yenda came out firing and made the most of the turnover ball being offered up by the Greens.

Yenda coach Andrew Lavaka said his side was still giving away too many penalties, adding they will come back to haunt them at the worst possible time if they do not learn to be more disciplined.

"Penalties still hurt us all over the paddock, so we killed ourselves again like we did the week before," Lavaka said.

"If we keep giving them away then we're not going to get the results.

"We've got to concentrate on what we need to do more (less penalties), they know what not to do and we have to stop it now because coming up against a side like Waratahs, if we give away (penalties), then it'll be hard to win."

It was a day Leeton will want to forget in a hurry, with the writing on the wall from the first hit-up, which resulted in a knock-on against the home side.

Adding insult to injury was at least a 12-point turnaround on either side of the half-time break which gave Yenda a handy buffer over its close rival.

Leeton was awarded a penalty 20m out from Yenda's line but turned it over on the first tackle allowing the Blueheelers to score in the next set, and when combined with Yenda scoring the first try in the second stanza, the Greens faced a massive battle to get back into the game.

"I think that took the wind out of the sails of the guys, going into the break behind, the guy's heads dropped a bit, we tried to keep it positive," Greens coach Brad Purtell said of the points swing.

"Right from that first hit-up I think Yenda wanted it more."

Nui George made the most of his move into the centres at the expense of the still injured Geff Cook, with the flyer bagging a hat-trick to help set up the win.