WARATAH Bobcats were held to a three-all draw by Northern Star on Saturday in Murwillumbah, but it was enough to secure the side top position on the JH Williams Premier League ladder.

Coraki did the Bobcats a huge favour by beating Ballina 6-3, and with Bobcats on equal points with the losing side heading into the round, the draw was enough to steal the sole leadership of the competition.

The Waratahs and Star clash was played end-to-end and a draw was probably a fair result, although both sides will be disappointed after bombing match-winning opportunities at goal.

Northern Star took the lead after 15 minutes via a penalty corner, then James Walker replied for Bobcats two minutes later with a nice goal from the base line.

Northern Star scored another goal to take the lead again before Bobcats hit back with a goal to Tim Willis from a short corner locking the score at 2-2 at half-time.

Bobcats started the second half with a lot more control, allowing Peter Irby to find the net, but once again Northern Star were quick to reply with another goal soon afterwards.

Neither team could find the match-winning goal with both teams coming close on numerous occasions.

Murwillumbah, meanwhile, continued their winning streak downing Kingscliff 3-1 in a hard fought game.

Kingscliff scored first with a goal to Liam Munro, but Murwillumbah stuck to their game plan and some great work saw Michael Campbell slot in the equaliser.

Kingscliff had most of the possession all game, but Murwillumbah’s fullback Shane Johnston was on his game, as was Chris Stuart in the midfield.

Murwillumbah’s determination allowed them to break through Kingscliff’s defence which saw Michael Hall bag two and secure the game for his team.

Redbacks remain at the bottom with another 4-1 defeat to East Lismore.

 The women’s JH Williams Women’s Premier League is wide open after the weekend’s games with Waratah Falcons, Casuarina and Ballina all notching up wins while Kingscliff and Mullumbimby had a draw.

Casuarina won 3-1 over East Lismore with Casuarina a little slow to get started. In the first half the scores were locked at 1-1.

The second half proved to be a big improvement with Casuarina holding their structure and capitalising on set plays.

Goal scorers for Casuarina were Kym Tuckwell, with two field goals, and Debbie Dolan scoring from a short corner.

Player of the match was Maddie Fitzpatrick.

In the other women’s game played in Murwillumbah, Mullumbimby and Kingscliff played out a 2-2 draw.

Mullum had a fantastic start and were rewarded with two fantastic goals to Samantha Johnston and Samantha Iwanuscha.

Mullumbimby continued their dominance in the second half, but a short lapse of concentration late in the half saw them squander their lead which allowed Kingscliff back in the game.

Kingscliff levelled the score with two quick goals to Rebecca Mitchell and Sam Morton.

Waratah Falcons played Northern Star in Ballina and won 5-0. Coaches Amy Paron and Candis Henry were really happy with their team’s performance after coming off a 4-0 loss the week before.

Scorers were Emily Hetherington and Stacey Butters with two apiece and Ebony Philip bagging one.

Stacey Butters was outstanding in the midfield and attack for Falcons.

In the other women’s game Ballina outmuscle last year’s premiers Glee for an impressive 2-1 win.