In front of a great crowd on a cold day in Goolgowi, Narrandera has tasted it's first success since the ProTen competition started in 2018 with the Lizards taking out the 2019 Community Cup Pre-season knockout on Saturday.
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On their way to the final Narrandera drew with Goolgowi 12-12 before edging out Rankins Springs in a close tussle 16-14.
Their opponents in the final were Barellan who defeated Hillston 8-4 in their opening game before seeing off a very unlucky Ivanhoe side 10-8 to earn the right to face off in the final.
The Lizards made their intentions clear in the final as they turned it on early and it was only very good defence from the Rams that saw Narrandera hold a lead of 8-0 at halftime with John Ingram and John Williams scoring the tries for the Lizards.
The Rams gave themselves a chance early in the second half after captain-coach Ben Evans scored a great individual try after an 80-metre break.
Just minutes later Narrandera all but finished it when replacement Vula Wate used his strength to create in the defence to crash over.
Braiden Ingram kicked a big goal, and at 14-4 the Lizards with the way they were playing had the trophy all but wrapped up.
Narrandera added two more tries with Gary Ingram getting across out wide before Wade Williams wrapped the game up for the Lizards. Jimmy McDermott touched down for a consolation try late in the game to see the Lizards come away with the trophy and $500 prize money with a 22-8 victory.
As a reward for a strong performance throughout the knockout Narrandera's Gary Ingram picked up the man-of-the-match in the decider.
The ProTen Community Cup regular season will start in two weeks with Rankins Springs hosting the opening round on Saturday, May 25.
