Bathurst Panthers winger Haydn Edwards enjoyed a first grade debut to remember at Wade Park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Bathurst teenager scored three tries on the Panthers' right edge in his side's huge 66-6 victory over the last-placed Orange CYMS.
Edwards scored a first half special, darting through the middle of the ruck and then beating the fullback to race 70 metres and score his first for the afternoon.
He latched on to a loose ball in the second period and raced 40m to grab his second before wrapping up the comprehensive Panthers victory with a final second, length of the field screamer to end the game.
With the match dead and buried and time all but gone, Panthers chanced their hand off the kick-off and threw the ball around, before a kid-field chip kick was regathered by Blake Lawson, who offloaded to Edwards to do the rest.
He had the CYMS cover defence zigging when they should have been zagging and he was mobbed by Panthers teammates after touching down in the north eastern corner at Wade Park to mark the 60-point mauling.
"I'm so happy for Haydn. He's a local kid and a local junior who's come through the grades and has put in the work. He deserved that moment in this game," Panthers coach Jake Betts said.
"He just showed what type of player he is. He's been knocking on the door for a few weeks, he got his opportunity here and he took it with both hands."
The finish of the match was in stark contrast to the opening exchanges though.
Ethan McKellar scored the first try of the match for the home side, with Liam Wilson's conversion handing CYMS the early ascendancy.
But it was all one way traffic thereafter.
Five-eighth Nick Tilburg had Panthers left edge attack humming and with weapons like Riley Cheshire, centre Dillion Adrole and the electric Jesse Limon on the wing that edge certainly turned heads.
Adrole also scored a hat-trick while Limon and Tilburg also crossed for four pointers on that side of the field.
Joe Bugg nabbed a double, as did Jackson Vallis and Blake Lawson also grabbed a try in his foray into the backrow following the suspension of big Brady Cheshire.
The game would have been over midway through the second half had goalkicker Josh Rivett packed his kicking boots.
The premiership winning fullback nailed just seven conversions in the rout.
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.
