Hayden Beard pitched five scoreless innings and the Bandits held a commanding 8-0 lead when rain stopped play after six innings, ensuring the defending premiers posted their second win of the season. Coach Tom Vincent was impressed by the way his team had responded to back-to-back losses to the Eagles and Vikings.

''I was just happy with the way we swung the bat today, we kind of had a better mentality going into the game,'' Vincent said.

''The result aside, it seemed like we had better at bats today.''

Vincent admitted he had been concerned by his team's scratchy early-season form before yesterday's victory.

He hoped the Bandits' title defence was now back on track.

''At first I kind of thought it was just a little bit of rust, but at some point you've got to wonder whether we're just a bit rusty or just not executing the plays right,'' he said.

''But we went back to better at bats today and I'm happy with the result.''

In other results yesterday, the Indians claimed the points against Vikings after leading 2-0 at the bottom of the fifth when rain stopped play. The Bears and Eagles were 4-4 at Majura when the game was abandoned after five innings.

AT A GLANCE

BANDITS 8 bt REBELS 0 at Curtin; INDIANS 2 bt VIKINGS 0 at Viking Park; BEARS 4 drew with EAGLES 4 at Majura.

Mid-week matches at Narrabundah

Tomorrow: Bandits v ACTAS at 7pm; Wednesday: ACTAS v Bears at 7pm; Thursday: Indians v Vikings at 7pm.