The rampaging Mossy 16As kickstarted their finals campaign with a stirring 32-16 hatchet job on the Lions in Saturday's St Vincents de Paul

Cup at Mittagong Sportsground.

Spearheaded by their bustling big men, the second placed Dragons were never in doubt against a home side that tried hard but lacked the class of their archrivals.

Moss Vale has now won the past two St Vinnies Cup's and coach Terry Fish claimed his young Dragons were fired up for the annual showdown.

"It was a top effort from the boys and we really wanted to keep that cup in our showcase," he said.

"We also wanted to keep second spot and I think our fitness and size in the forwards won it for us in the end."

The Dragons made a sparkling start to the clash when pacey fullback Josh Champion sprinted the length of the field in the second minute to give his side an early six-point buffer.

Rep player and Mossy five eighth Luke Hines silenced the rowdy home crowd when he muscled over from close range soon after.

A defensive blunder handed Moss Vale's Jason Hayes a gift four pointer minutes later and Mittagong were staring down the barrell of a 16 point deficit.

Classy Lions centre Adam Thompson decided to take matters into his own hands just before the break, charging over under the posts to bring the margin back to 10.

Hayes snatched his second just after half time and when Colin Lowe crossed over out wide the visitors had stretched their lead to 24-6.

The sin binning of Lions half Dean Roxburgh sparked a mini revival from Mittagong and brought the parochial home crowd back into the match.

Big hits and swarming defence gave the Lions some momentum and second rower Chris Cooper grabbed a six pointer after a lovely bounce from a grubber.

But the lift in intensity took its toll on Mittagong and Hines sealed the match for Mossy when he ambled through some tired defence to score soon after.

A brilliant flick pass from Anthony Phelps handed Dragons replacement Kyle Bruce a late try while Lions centre Adam Thompson bagged his second on the siren.

"We played as well as we could but Moss Vale are such a good team," Lions coach John Cooper said.

"I think they can go all the way this year."

Best players for Moss Vale were Chris Barton, Luke Hines, Chris Conquest, Josh Champion and Jason Hughes while Corey Shepherd, Dean Roxburgh and Adam Thompson tried hard for the Lions.

The St Vincent de Paul Cup is an initiative of the Mittagong club and aims to raise money for the charity by taking donations and running fundraising activities on the day.