Queanbeyan Blues beat Bulldogs in the mud to slide to top

In what was arguably the worst weather day the competition has seen so far this season, both sides struggled to hold onto possession for any great stretches of time.

Basic football was the order of the day for the top-of-the-table clash, with hardly a ball going past first receiver.

The pressure was on the halves of both sides to produce good kicking games, and with two penally goals scored and two tries coming off the back of kicks, this proved the right way to go.

The game was intense and tight, and the muddy jerseys walking off the field at full time would have been a dry-cleaner's worst nightmare.

Queanbeyan took a 6-4 lead going into half time, with just a penalty goal separating the two tries in the half.

A second penalty to the Blues gave them a four-point lead early in the second stanza, but out of nowhere Bulldogs half Ben Picker pulled out his boots and a perfectly placed grubber in behind the Blues' line found former NRL star Michael Bani who scored.

Just minutes later it was the same man showing off again, this time through the hands as a beautiful Picker pass found his right-hand man to dive over in the corner.

But the Blues only took advantage of being on the back foot, and it was halves Ben Nicoll and Tevian Arona who stood up.

Arona put the ball high in the sky close to the line, and a sprinting and leaping Jake Knight scored a contender for try of the Blues' season to put his side back in front.

The Bulldogs slipped their discipline in frustration, and some piggy-back penalties gave all possession to the home side.

They continued to press forward through the forwards, crashing over again to blow the score out to 20-12.

The Blues will now prepare for Queanbeyan's second local derby for 2014 when they take on the Kangaroos at Freebody Oval next Saturday.