WATCH THE REPLAYS: North Qld Gridiron League's historic weekend (NQ Gridiron League )

It was a heated clash between the Cairns Falcons and Mulgrave Vikings, but defensive battle saw the one team come out on top. WATCH HERE >>>

FAR North ferocity was on full display at Peterson Park for the inaugural NQ Gridiron League Cairns derby between the Cairns Falcons and the Mulgrave Vikings.

Chippy plays, pushing and shoving as well as a a bit of trash talking made for a flag-heavy bout between the two sides, but two early scoring drives from the Falcons had the side winning 16-0.

Mackay Mavericks 9 def by Rockhampton Wolverines 32

Cairns coach Jake Price said outside of the two scoring drives, there was plenty to work on for the remainder of the season.

“We backed off, that’s not on the team, that’s on me,” he said,

“We’ve just got to make better second half adjustments.

“Everything from the penalties to some bad play calls by myself, we’ve just to work on that.”

Defensively, the Vikings showed fight in notching a couple of key turnovers in the second half.

Townsville Cyclones 30 def Gladstone Pirates 0

However, quarterback Brendon Kruger admitted the offence could not take advantage as indicated by the scoreless outing.

“We need to be a bit more physical up front, our line’s still a little fresh,” he said. “A couple of boys are from Townsville so they don’t really train with us much.

“We just need to work harder at training, I think the boys realise we need to train more often and harder – it’s not really a joke out there.”

Originally published as WATCH THE REPLAYS: North Qld Gridiron League's historic weekend (NQ Gridiron League )