None of the three grades were able to record a win over the Roosters.

But it was a close match for the under-18s, going down 26-20.

Moss Vale had several players unavailable for the match but coach Matthew Burke said the younger players in the squad  who had not had much game time prior to the weekend’s match stepped up and performed well.

Heading into the match, Burke said he just wanted to be competitive in the match and the Dragons certainly filled that brief.

Moss Vale got off to a slow start but fought back to lead at one stage in the second half.

“We just ran out of steam,” Burke said.

“[But] it was a good team effort.”

He said he hoped to get most players back in the next couple of weeks- which would be a welcome boost ahead of this weekend’s local derby with Mittagong.

“I’m not sure what side we’ll have available but we’re always keen to play Mittagong,” Burke said.

“Anything can happen.”

For the ladies league tag team, it was a tough loss as they were kept scoreless by Thirlmere in the 50-0 result.

Dragons co-coach Dylan Readman said the team made “heaps of silly mistakes” during the match which let them down.

“We started off slow- everyone was a bit cold but we’re still improving every week that’s for sure,” he said.

“Our defence was pretty good in our own half, it was just breakaway tries [that hurt us].”

Maddy Shelton was awarded player’s player.

Readman said looking ahead to this weekend’s match against Mittagong, it was a game “we definitely can win”.

It was also a tough match for first grade with the Dragons beaten 50-24 by Thirlmere.

Coach Jeco Makatoa said Moss Vale had played just one game in the past four weeks and it was tough to come back from a break against the top of the table Roosters.

While it was not the result they were after, he was pleased the team fought hard and continued to score points in the second half.

This weekend will be a big match against Mittagong and completion will be the key for Moss Vale.

“We play one half of football every game and it’s letting us down. If we play the full 80 minutes of football we’ll be hard to beat.”