The battle for second place in the BRFU league heated up over the weekend as Mariners came from behind to pip Police at Nationals.

The Blues led for almost the entire game, boosted by a hat-trick of tries from Jonathan Cassidy. However, a last ditch effort by the Greens led to a try from Simon Van de Weg which clinched victory for Mariners.

Police drew first blood with a try from Tom Steinhoff which was converted by Alan Oliver, but Mariners were soon hot on their heels. Fly half Kenny Anderson made a break, eventually passing to Glen Dunn who went over the line.

Keith Hodgkins missed the conversion, leaving the score at 7-5 to Police.

Minutes later, Oliver chipped over the top of the Mariners defensive line where the ball was picked up by Cassidy, who went over for his first score of the game. Another successful conversion by Oliver extended the Police lead to 14-5.

Oliver had another chance to increase the tally after Mariners gave away a penalty in three-point range for back-chat to referee Steve Given, but the kick went wide.

Mariners came back strongly as the second half got underway, but Police survived this period of pressure. And it was the Blues who came away with the first score of the half with a splendid individual try.

Cassidy chipped ahead and then managed to beat three Mariners players for pace, despite being held back. Some supporters complained that Cassidy had knocked the ball on before taking it over the line, but the try was given and Police were now ahead by 19-5.

The teams then took turns to score. Tries by Terry Madeiros and Dunn for Mariners and Cassidy's hat-trick for Police left the score at 24-19 with only minutes remaining.

Police had a chance to put the game further out of Mariners' reach, but Oliver missed a penalty despite getting two chances at the kick.

Moments later, Hodgkins had better luck with his penalty attempt and Mariners closed within three points of their opponents.

It was Van de Weg's try that finally decided the game. He picked up the ball after his own chip ahead and ran 20 yards to take it over the line. Mariners missed the conversion, but at the final whistle it didn't matter.

Mariners captain Jeff Merker was proud of his team's performance. "We were down, but we came out really strong and it's a good victory for us,'' he said.

"I think this leaves us tied for second place with Police, so it puts some importance on our next match with them. Our line-out turned out to be really strong today and I think that really kept us solid, and our scrum was really solid. Everyone just put their heads down and played a solid game.'' Teachers 55 Renegades 12 In the other game of the day, a dominant Teachers continued their winning streak with a comfortable victory over struggling Renegades.

Teachers winger Heath (Butch) Robinson was the first to score after a strong run by Derek (Bobby) Hurdle put him in attacking position.

Teachers' pack soon took over the forward play with a series of powerful scrums that pushed Gades further and further into their own half. The surge forward led to a try by Hurdle as one of the scrums took the ball over the line.

Teachers' forwards played an integral role in the next try. Pat Drea and Anthony (Church) Cupidore demonstrated their strength with a couple of crash balls before the ball finally wound up in the hands of Andre Simons, who sped over for another try.

Teachers' onslaught continued with tries by Cupidore and another by Robinson, and Renegades were soon 31 points behind.

Peter Hughes finally got Gades onto the scorecard when he took advantage of a loose pass from Freedom Burrows on his own goal-line, intercepting the ball and depositing it between the posts. The conversion by Timothy Rhodes took the score to 31-7.

By half-time, Teachers' lead had expanded to 41-7 after scores by Nathan Brown and Robinson.

In the second half, Simons got his second and third tries while Renegades replied with a try by James Coburn after Teachers had given away a penalty under the posts.

The final score went to Teachers' substitute Ron Hook who took advantage of a breakthrough run by Naylor to take the final tally to 55-12.