THE Kendall Blues delighted fans in attendance at their annual charity round on Saturday, running out big winners over local rivals the Lake Cathie Raiders.

Blues winger Jye Rousell ran in three brilliant tries at the Kendall Showground, with his first coming in the opening minutes of the match.

Just moments later, he crossed again for his second.

Both tries went unconverted however, with the Blues holding an early 8-0 lead.

Despite the Raiders’ best defensive efforts, they couldn’t keep Kendall at bay, facing an ongoing barrage of Blues tries.

Kaine Cafe scored try number three for the Blues, which was followed by a successful conversion from Jack Chapman.

Chapman then got in on the try scoring action, grounding and converting two in quick succession.

Lachlie Hardwick crossed the line for try number six just before halftime, with Chapman extending the Blues’ lead to 32-0 after another successful conversion.

Solid defence from the Blues kept the Raiders scoreless in the first half, and they continued to stamp their authority on the game in the second stanza with tries to James Kennedy, Jye Rousell and Kaine Cafe (two).

With the Raiders’ hopes looking as bleak as the weather, Lake Cathie were eventually rewarded for their forays into Blues territory with a well-deserved Aaron Shephard try.

Blake Wells successfully kicked the conversion, taking the full time score to 52-6 in favour of the Blues.

“Today’s game was a great community event,” said Kendall Blues captain Joel Kennedy.

“Our Charity Day is focusing on local community members and families that have been battling various forms of cancer and hopefully our jersey auction will be able to offer some much needed support.”

Blues coach James Kennedy told News Of The Area, “It was great to have such a good win in front of such a terrific crowd.

“We haven’t had many chances to play dry weather footy lately and I’m just so stoked to be out there in these conditions and to take the win.”

Raiders captain/coach Sean Barrett gave full credit to the Blues.

“They are a very good team,” he said.

“We had a few players pull out early in the week and we were still trying to field a team on Thursday afternoon.

“Regardless of the final score I’m still very proud of the Raiders boys and how hard they fought, they never gave up.”

Saturday’s win put the Kendall Blues in first place on the competition ladder.

Next weekend they will do battle with the second place Laurieton Stingrays.

By Kim AMBROSE