It was a tough day for Lismore Rugby against the strength of the Byron Shire Rebels.

The home side toiled hard all day, but the unfortunate divide between the top teams and "the rest" was evident across several matches on Saturday.

The Rebels started strongly and didn't let up, leading 54-0 at halftime before running away with the match, 87-0.

Will Latham scored 3 tries for the visitors, with Will Cane and Oliver Shakeshaft crossing for doubles.

In a tighter contest, Reserve Grade went down fighting 37-19, with a number of players backing up for First Grade.

The Women's side had an encouraging 17-5 win over the Rebels which places them in equal second.

In other matches, the SCU Gold Rats forfeited to Ballina, Richmond Range got the better of Evans River 35-24, Casuarina ran rough shot over Casino 62-12 and Wollongbar Alstonville defeated Lennox Head 29-7.

FAR NORTH COAST RUGBY UNION 

Round 7 Results 15th June 2024

First Grade

Richmond Range 35(Nicholas Fuhrmann, Brock King, David Lane, Alex Gibbon tries, James Pankhurst 3 conversions, 3 penalty goals) d Evans River 24(Agustin Aversa, Jack Semple, Jonathan Robinson, JF Beytell tries, Michael Miskle 2 conversions)

Half Time: Range 18 - Evans 12

Casuarina 62(Penalty Try, Kai George 2, Lachlan Stacey 2, Levi Dangerfield 2, Harrison Hall, Jacob Hall, Jem MacDonald tries, Kai George 5 conversions) d Casino 12(Sililo Stavenow, Bryce Spencer tries, Jayden Torrens conversion)

Half Time: Casuarina 38 – Casino 12

Byron Shire Rebels 87(Will Latham 3, Will Cane 2, Oliver Shakeshaft 2, Jordan Elliott, Jye Connochie, James Ellis, Ashton Sione, John Turagabeci, Ben Mitchell tries, Joel Little 11 conversions) d Lismore 0

Half Time: Byron Shire 54 – Lismore 0

Wollongbar Alstonville 29(Daniel Damen, Ewen McQueen, Ben Damen, Brenden Williams tries, Bodi Smith 3 conversions, penalty goal) d Lennox Head 7(Hayden Blair try, Lachlan Miller conversion)

Half Time: Wollongbar 12 – Lennox 0

Ballina 30 d SCU Gold Rats 0

Point Score – Ballina 30, Byron Shire 26, Wollongbar 25, Casuarina 18, Richmond Range 17, Evans 14, Casino 14, Lennox 6, Lismore 6, SCU 0

2nd Grade

Yamba 41 d Casuarina 12

Ballina 39 d Mullumbimby 13

Wollongbar Alstonville 30 d Lennox Head 0

Byron Shire Rebels 37 d Lismore 19

Point Score – Byron 29, Wollongbar 25, Ballina 24, Casuarina 17, Casino 14, Kyogle 12, Lismore 9, Yamba 7, Lennox 6, Evans River 5, Mullumbimby 5

Women’s

Lismore 17 d Byron Shire Rebels 5

Casino 26 d Casuarina Beach 22

Point Score – Casino 16, Byron 9, Lismore 9, Casuarina 8

Under 18’s

Lennox Head 34 d Ballina/Wollongbar 5

Yamba 38 d Casuarina Beach 20

Point Score –Lennox 20, Yamba 15, Casuarina 8, Lismore 1, Ballina/WAR 0

Next Week’s Round 8 Matches 

Saturday 22nd June

1^st Grade

Evans River v Casuarina Beach at Yamba

Richmond Range v Byron Shire Rebels

Lennox Head v SCU Gold Rats at Brunswick Heads

Ballina v Wollongbar Alstonville

Lismore v Casino

2^nd Grade

Yamba v Evans River 

Mullumbimby v Lennox Head

Ballina v Wollongbar Alstonville

Lismore v Casino

Byron Shire Rebels - Bye

Casuarina Beach - Bye

Kyogle – Bye

Women’s 10’s

Lismore v Casino

Under 18’s

Yamba v Casuarina Beach

Lismore v Ballina/WAR 

Lennox Head – Bye