A savage Lions outfit mauled the Moss Vale Dragons in a one-sided local league derby at Community Oval yesterday.

Spearheaded by a ferocious forward pack, Mittagong made light work of the Dragons to run out 28-10 winners and hold their position at the top of the Group 6 premiership table.

The pre-season hype counted for nothing in the much-awaited clash as the Lions played some purposeful footy and never gave the winless Dragons a sniff.

The Dragons showed some glimpses of brilliance early though but sloppy ball handling and lazy defence eventually cost them a chance.

“It was a great start with good intensity but we just lost it,” injured Dragons captain/coach Rob Wilesmith said.

“We were a bit skinny around the ruck and we’ll be a lot better when the new players from Tonga arrive.

“We also failed to stick to our game plan but I am personally looking forward to playing the Lions in the second round.”

The game started at breakneck speed with both sides chancing their arm.

But it was the Dragons who drew first blood when classy import Sam Ratabua grubbered through in the fifth minute to crash over.

The Lions hit back strongly though when big Fijian Bruce Nama barged over near the line to square the ledger.

Mittagong crossed again just before half time when five-eight Daniel Hannaford crossed over on the end of a brilliant Andrew Murdoch pass and took the score to 12-6.

But despite having plenty of chances, the Dragons fell victim to over-exuberance, pushing nothing passes and being unable to complete their sets.

Shortly after the break Mittagong’s David Nye burrowed under the defence close to the line and the crowd could sense that the floodgates were about to open.

Ten minutes later the Lions scored another six pointer when Pat Molan crashed over on the end of a great Lee Faavae speculator and the Dragons looked dead and buried.

Mittagong were busting tackles at will and when centre Tim Shepherd sprinted seventy metres to score the Lions final try, the Dragons were out on their feet.