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Match report Round 18 | Bears play out incredible draw

The North Sydney Bears have clawed back from the jaws of defeat with three tries within nine minutes in the second-half helping them to a scintillating 28-all draw with the Newtown Jets on Saturday afternoon.

The draw follows on from a previous 22-all draw earlier in the season, meaning the Frank Hyde Shield will be shared among the foundation clubs for the second year running as they each celebrate their 110th year.

The Bears took an early 4-0 lead through Kyle Turner after 15 minutes, but the Jets responded in emphatic style with three unanswered tries within a relentless eight minute period of their own.

Sosaia Feki was the first beneficiary of a William Kennedy cut-out pass in the 20th minute, before Jack Williams and Briton Nikora broke the game open with classy tries of their own just shortly after.

The Bears got off to the perfect start in the second-half with a try to captain Billy Brittain from close-range, but a powerful surge from Aaron Gray just moments later gave the Jets a quick reprieve.

The floodgates opened when Evans finished off a Braden Uele bust through the middle, but a miraculous try to Curtis Johnstone and another to Viliami Kaveinga got the Bears firmly back into the contest.

A Jesse Arthurs try capped off an incredible comeback from the Bears, with Dean Hawkins nailing the sideline conversion to draw the game level at 28-all.

Chances for Newtown to draw first blood were few and far between throughout the opening exchanges, but their committed goal-line defence were enough to keep the Bears at bay.

With pressure mounting, the Bears eventually got their reward through Kyle Turner after he pounced on a Connor Tracey cross-field kick for the maiden try of the afternoon.

The Jets hit-back shortly after conceding their first when Feki finished off a classy backline movement in the left-hand corner, with Kyle Flanagan nailing the sideline conversion to take a 6-4 lead after 20 minutes.

They extended their lead on the ensuing set when Jack Williams sliced through some flimsy defence with a classy dummy sending him over adjacent to the uprights.

Brimming with confidence, the Jets fired with their third try in quick succession after Nikora stormed onto a Flanagan short-ball to crash over for his fifth try of the season.

After taking a comfortable 16-4 lead into half-time, the Jets were on the back foot early in the second stanza after Brittain scored with a quick dart out of dummy-half to give his side an array of confidence.

A clumsy error of the following set of six gifted the Jets a golden opportunity to strike back, with Gray showing his class with a spirited carry down the right-hand side extending his sides lead.

Uele proved unstoppable with the ball-in-hand with some strong carries through the middle-third, and another barnstorming run saw the front-rower break through the line before drawing the fullback for Evans to score the Jets fifth try of the afternoon.

An amazing last ditch effort from Rhys Kennedy when the ball looked to have gone over the dead-ball line saw Johnstone score a crucial four-pointer with just 15 minutes remaining, with Tracey bursting through the Jets defence just moments later to send Kaveinga over to score.

It saw a frantic final 10 minutes being played despite the Bears hopes looking to be all but over early in the second-half, with Kennedy was just centimetres away from scoring with the Jets desperate defence holding him out.

The Bears eventually found the line with a try to Arthurs in the right-hand corner on the back of some slick hands from Braidon Burns, but although Hawkins was able to calmly slot the conversion from out-wide, the young halfback was unable to ice a late field-goal as an enthralling game of rugby league finished with a draw.