Tough derby for our Spacies

While the scoreboard showed a convincing 32-18 win to Forbes - part of a clean sweep across all four grades for the visitors - in Sunday's long weekend derby with Parkes, the first grade clash was anything but straightforward. It took 20 minutes for the deadlock to break, with Parkes striking first through a Joey Dwyer and Billy Simpson partnership, Simpson crashing over to give the hosts a 6-0 lead. Billy Simpson and Sam Dwyer celebrating the first try of the afternoon in first grade, landed beautifully by Simpson. Forbes responded five minutes later when Charlie Lennon crossed, but a missed conversion kept Parkes in front 6-4. The Magpies soon edged ahead after a powerful run from Farren Lamb set up Zeke Hartwig for a try, but Parkes hit back before the break. Junior Igila crossed to give the Spacemen a 12-10 lead heading into half-time. Forbes' first grade captain Nick Greenhalgh acknowledged the game could have gone either way at that point - but he had every confidence in his side if they held on. "They were really good, Parkes, we knew they would be," he said. "We knew Parkes were going to be up for it and we needed to stay in the fight long enough." They did - and in the final 25 minutes of the match, Forbes broke it all open. Chad Porter struck first, scoring behind the posts, before Jackson Brien leapt high to finish a pinpoint kick from Greenhalgh. Suddenly the Magpies had surged ahead 20-12, with 17 minutes still remaining. Momentum had swung, and the travelling supporters made their presence felt. It was 32-12 with just eight minutes left but Parkes refused to go quietly, with Brendan Bigam crossing in the corner late and Jett Rudd adding the extras to bring the final score to 32-18. A spectacular try in the corner by Lachlan Miller in reserve grade. Forbes ran in four tries in the opening stages of Sunday's reserve grade game to set themselves up for a 16-46 long weekend win over Parkes. The Spacies did slow the flow of points and push back, with tries to Bailey Vaeau, Lachlan Miller and Ollie Thomas. Our cadets fought right until the final whistle, with just two points in it when Forbes and Parkes under 18s met at Spooner Oval four weeks ago - and again on Sunday at Pioneer. With two tries and a penalty goal apiece there was only a conversion left, the Magpies on the high side of the 12-10 scoreboard again. In a high-energy contest where both sides brought plenty of passion to the field, the young Spacies were first to score with Riley Pizzi crossing the line more than 10 minutes into the first half. Magpies were quick to respond - just three minutes later - when Thompson Hurford dived on a grubber to level the scores. Joe Nicholson added the extras with the conversion and that was to prove the difference. The teams battled it out until Parkes was able to put Byron Tanswell over in the corner, and Thompson Hurford crossed for his second before the half time whistle blew with the scoreboard reading 8-10. In the second half the only points came from a penalty kick apiece, despite a mighty drive to the tryline by the hosts in the final stages of the game. Erin Naden scored a double and added a crucial six points with the boot to see Forbes Magpies 14-22 winners over Parkes Spacecats in the opening match of the long weekend derby. Forbes had established a 6-12 lead over their hosts by half time, with tries to Erin and Miah Naden for Forbes. For Parkes, Leni Constable had crossed the line and successfully converted her own try. The Magpies have had a sensational start to their 2026 Western Premiership Blues Tag campaign, winning six of their eight contests so far to hold equal points with Orange CYMS on the ladder. They met a Parkes side prepared for the long weekend battle on Sunday, but it wasn't too far into the second half that Erin Naden struck again. She swooped on a chip over the line to plant the ball down, and then added the extras with the conversion to extend Forbes' lead to 6-18. Just moments later, the Magpies scooped up the ball to put Ruby Coote over in the corner to make it 6-22. The Spacecats rallied and pushed play back to their end - Cass Ward quick to grab their own kick over the line to narrow the gap to 10-22. With just two minutes of play left, Constable crossed for her second to make it 14-22. While it was a tough day on the field for Parkes' all four grades, the club couldn't go past praising the big turnout of fans and the atmosphere at Pioneer Oval, which is always electric across the day. It was also a derby made a little extra special with Old Boys Day and first grade honouring the 1996 grand final winning first and reserve grade teams 30 years ago this year with an iconic throwback jersey replicating the same worn by the '96 premiers. These jerseys were auctioned off at the Coachman Hotel after the game, and the club is selling replica 1996 jerseys via parkesspacemen.com.