Round 2 of the URLQ competition produced two nail biting finishes at Griffith University last night, with spirited clashes and tenacious defence the order of the night.

The small Griffith crowd who braved the cool conditions witnessed two exhilarating contests, with the Griffith Dragons and QUT Trouts battling it out for a 20-all draw, whilst the UQ Hounds survived a late scare to hold out the USQ Ironbarks, 20-18.

In a game of contrasting styles, Griffith utilised the speed of their nippy halves to dominate through the centre, while QUT relied on the power game of monsters Fou Fuimaono and Richard Kirkbright to provide the momentum.

Off the back of a flood of early penalties, the Trouts posted first points in just the sixth minute, with centre Barry Williams crashing over in the corner off the back of a sneaky blindside raid.

But the Dragons were able to strike straight back thanks to some concerted pressure, with prop Kurt Vogel brushing aside some tiring Trouts defence to hand the defending premiers a 6-4 lead after 12 minutes.

Both sides traded tries for a 10-all half-time score, before nippy Griffith half Abel Afele showed some silky footwork to bamboozle the Trouts central defenders, allowing the home side to skip out to a 16-10 lead, with the Trouts again drawing level just five minutes later.

The Dragons looked to have sealed victory when winger James Byron crossed off a slick backline movement, but Kirkbright ensured the spoils were shared when he crashed over in the corner just before time to make it 20-all.

Two tries to hooker Drew Tobin allowed the Hounds to hold off a fast finishing USQ Ironbarks in last night’s second match, with the fleet footed UQ side registering a hard fought 20-18 victory.

After posting early points, the Hounds were soon on the back foot thanks to Ironbarks half Robbie Peters; the USQ half controlling play to set up one try and score one himself for a handy 12-6 lead after 20 minutes.

But an inspirational charge from the Hounds Duncan Ellis snatched back the momentum for UQ just before the break, with the rampaging utility leaving a number of Ironbarks in his wake on a 40 metre dash to the line.

Despite trailing 10-12 at the break, the Hounds grabbed the ascendancy late in the second half to post two quick tries for a 20-12 lead, before USQ lock John Gilmour ensured a grandstand finish when he crossed for a converted try inside the final four minutes.

Despite a flurry of attacking raids by the Ironbarks at the death, they were unable to break post further points, allowing the Hounds to chalk up their first points of the season.