AFL Canberra rivals fire up in 'fierce battle' at Ainslie

Ainslie's blistering opening first quarter helped build a handy early lead and put Belconnen on the back foot from which they never fully recovered. The physical encounter also saw Ainslie's Josh Maynard shown a yellow card by umpires, which further fuelled the vocal Tricolours supporters.

"There's a healthy rivalry between us and Belconnen but we're very respectful of them," Ainslie coach Jordan Doering said.

"When you play against them it's always a fierce battle and today was no different. They still competed and in the third quarter they made us work.

"The way we responded in the last quarter, I was really happy with how the boys finished off well."

Meanwhile in the women's first grade showdown between the same sides the Tricolours completed a memorable fight-back to claim a nail-biting win by just one point.

Elsewhere, Gungahlin were in the contest early before the Tigers ran away with it, and Eastlake's men claimed an emphatic 119-point victory over Tuggeranong Valley.

In the other women's matches, Queanbeyan comfortably defeated Gungahlin by 76 points with the Jets kept goal-less, as Eastlake beat Tuggeranong.

AFL CANBERRA FIRST GRADE RESULTS

Men

Eastlake def. Tuggeranong 158-39

Ainslie def. Belconnen 93-41

Queanbeyan def. Gungahlin 105-21

Women

Queanbeyan def. Gungahlin 77-1

Eastlake def. Tuggeranong 64-14

Ainslie def. Belconnen 28-27

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