Black Stars was out of the blocks early with two tries to Alan Takowa in the first 20 minutes along with one from Brennan English.

But the Eagles were quick to respond with halfback Corey Moseley showing a piece of individual brilliance to cross over for a four-pointer.

Allan Aitkens was next to put points on the scoreboard after picking up a loose ball off a short kick-off to run straight through the Black Stars’ defence and put the ball down under the posts.

Black Stars regrouped well before front-rower Jacob Takurit scored from close-range four minutes before the interval.

Almost immediately after, the Eagles defence was breached again with Viiga running down the right wing to earn his first try for the night.

Cloncurry began the second half the way it finished the first after letting the Black Stars kick-off go dead for a dropout kick – giving possession straight back to their opponents.

Viiga took  advantage of the Eagles blunder scoring a double off the corresponding set of six tackles from close-range.

With a 20-point lead, complacency seemed to have crept into the Black Stars play with Jeffrey Wilson reigniting Eagles with a fine try in the 49th minute.

But poor discipline continued to damage the Eagles’ hopes of a result with Viiga tapping the ball from 10 metres out and breaking the line for a hat-trick in the 54th minute to all but seal the victory.

Despite scoring the next three tries courtesy of Clifford Johnny, Reynardo O’Keefe, and Kieran Butcher, the Eagles fell short of a comeback.

Two tries in the final 10 minutes by Viiga and Shayden Kerekere topped off a hard-fought win for Black Stars.

Cloncurry Eagles coach Ronald Major told his players to hold their heads high after the defeat.

“We nearly completed the comeback,” Major said.

“The boys have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Black Stars coach Jacob Takurit said his team played two different halves of footy but was pleased with the two competition points.

“It was a scrappy win,” Takurit said.

“We started off good playing basic at first, but as soon as we got in front we got complacent.

“The second half was the biggest killer for us because we had a break then got a bit too relaxed.”

BLACK STARS 44

JP Viiga – 4 tries

Alan Takowa – 2 tries

Shayden Kerekere – 1 try

Jacob Takurit – 1 try

Brennan English – 1 try

Dion Gee Gee – 4 goals

CLONCURRY EAGLES 32

Kieran Butcher – 1 try

Jeffrey Wilson – 1 try

Allan Aitkens – 1 try

Corey Moseley – 1 try, 4 goals

Clifford Johnny – 1 try

Reynardo O’Keefe – 1 try

LADDER

Wanderers 11

Town 11

Normanton 10

Cloncurry 6

Black Stars 4

Brothers 0