HIS first involvement was a brilliant cover tackle, but by the time Oberon-Panthers hooker Marshall Taylor walked off the field on Friday night he had three even better tries to his credit.
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Taylor's triple treat proved decisive as his Big Cats posted a 34-22 win over St Pat's White in their under 11s Group 10 Junior Rugby League match at Jack Arrow Oval.
The crafty number nine's speed off the mark saw him a constant threat from dummy half and with a good fend and high work rate in defence, he's a big star for the Big Cats.
Formed as a joint venture between the Oberon Tigers and Bathurst Panthers, the Big Cats have made a good start to the season with three wins from four rounds.
But St Pat's White did make the Big Cats work for their latest success.
In the opening play of Friday night's match, Saints speedster Braxo Seargeant sprinted down the right wing and looked set to score a brilliant solo try.
However, Taylor chased across in cover to produce a try-saving tackle, putting his Saints rival into touch.
Though denied on that occasion, the Saints continued to attack and were rewarded in the fifth minute when Tyson Ryan dived over in the left corner.
Three minutes later Seargeant again used his speed and footwork to create space, running 25 metres to score. Isaac Munns kicked the conversion to make it 10-0.
Momentum then swung as the Big Cats showed some nice passing skills, spreading the ball from the centre of the field to the left edge where Amber Thackeray dived over.
Then, with a tick over two minutes in the half remaining, Taylor sliced the Saints open and ran half the length of the field to score a well deserved try.
In the final seconds of the half Taylor again scooted out from dummy half and headed for the try line, but an excellent around-the-legs tackle from Munns halted his run.
That was just one of a whole host of tackles that Munns made during the match, often stopping much bigger rivals.
At half-time the Big Cats held a 12-10 lead and it did not take long for that margin to increase when play resumed.
Once more it was thanks to Taylor, the number nine scooping up the ball one-handed and darting out of dummy half to score. Cooper Thompson added the extras to make it 18-10.
Having impressed in the first half with his counter-attacking runs from fullback, Big Cats number one Max Behan turned on a display of fancy footwork to add another try to his side's haul.
However, there was plenty of fight left in the Saints.
Front rower Darcy Williams lifted his team-mates with a number of strong charges and crunching tackles.
With nine minutes left the Saints struck thanks to Aiden Lyons, who then booted a goal as well to make it game on at 22-16.
The Big Cats responded the next set as, after a nice weaving run, Mason Christie-Johnston's quick play the ball paved the way for Behan's second.
Huge metre-eating runs from Saints forwards Williams and Lachlan Ryan set up a try for Munns to make it 28-22, but the Big Cats were to have the final say.
It came in the form of Taylor's third try of the night, his hat-trick helping his side to a 12-point win.
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