Rugby clash marred by multiple brawls, late red card for 'worst offence'

There was no shortage of drama in a feisty top-of-the-table clash between the Royals and Tuggeranong at Phillip Oval in the John I Dent Cup.

Not long after the start of the second half with the Vikings leading 17-7, the Royals had a flashy passage of play with wild offloads moving them down field.

When the phase halted and was brought back with no advantage however, some fisticuffs erupted leading to an all-in brawl.

The referee eventually regained control of the game but Vikings big man Samuel Thomas and Royals playmaker Pedro Rolando were both shown yellow cards.

Some drama followed on the sideline which appeared to amuse the crowd, but on the field the action was just as gripping.

The Vikings held off a fightback by the Royals to claim the important win 31-26, but not before one more melee seconds before the full-time whistle with Leon Bongare sent off.

"I've got a touch judge report of clear punches by blue 16 to the head of a red player. It's a red card," the referee explained to the Royals captain.

"It's the worst offence mate, to punch a guy in the head."

There was a great bit of sportsmanship at Phillip Oval in the women's first grade AFL competition on Saturday morning.

Tuggeranong Valley's Kathryn Ghirardello played her 200th game - a huge feat that was achieved over two decades playing for the club - and was fittingly celebrated post-match.

After the thrilling game narrowly won by Eastlake 4.2 (26) - 3.5 (23), Ghirardello was chaired off the field to applause and a guard of honour from teammates and opposition alike.

Around the grounds, the Queanbeyan Tigers thrashed Belconnen 9.9 (63) - 0.4 (4), and Ainslie steamrolled the Gungahlin Jets 21.17 (143) - Gungahlin 0.1 (1).

The Yass Magpies scored a huge Katrina Fanning Shield win over the formerly undefeated Bulls, Gungahlin have been on a slide in recent weeks and it continued on Saturday, suffering their fourth-straight loss 38-6 after a winning start to the season.

Yass' Samara Afele scored a double as did Gabrielle Davis in a 38-6 Katrina Fanning Shield win that keeps the Magpies in touch with the top four on the ladder.

Elsewhere in the women's rugby league competition, the Warriors celebrated Ladies Day with a 20-4 victory over Tuggeranong, the Blues easily dealt with the Sharks 26-10 and the Rams won a nail-biter 16-14 against Goulburn.

A big win for Ainslie and a shock defeat to the Magpies put the tri-colours hot on the heels of the Tigers on the AFL Canberra men's first grade competition table.

Ainslie chalked up a massive 163-8 win over the struggling Jets while Queanbeyan were beaten by the red-hot Belconnen 97-70 and Eastlake did it easy against Tuggeranong 145-19.

The NPL Men's game at O'Connor saw Canberra Croatia dominate Olympic 6-1.

The visitors scored through Daniel Barac after just four minutes and he doubled their advantage after just two more minutes. At the 20 minute mark Croatia went up by three goals.

At halftime, Olympic were able to get some control back in the match, but Canberra Croatia were still feeling confident.

That confidence didn't budge in the second half as Atiya Waraga secured his brace and then his hat-trick.

Stephen Domenici got a consolation goal for Olympic to get on the board, but a 76th minute score by Keegan Vucetic sealed an excellent performance by Canberra Croatia.