Dorcol tightened its stranglehold on Serbian rugby league when their juniors made history by winning the inaugural Serbian youth championship, defeating RLC Soko from Vranje 18-16 on Sunday. After eight weeks and 10 games the Serbian Rugby League U18 Championship was completed with a grand final in Belgrade.

The two sides met on a very chilly day, with sub-zero temperatures making conditions treacherous. Soko opened the game strongly, leading 8-0, but Dorcol got itself back into contention with two tries and one conversion, giving them a two-point edge at the interval. In second half Dorcol started very strongly and jumped out to an 18:8 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Soko fought valiantly and scored two tries but young Bosko Markovic missed the conversion to tie three minutes before time.

Jovan Vujosevic, RLEF Central European Regional Director: “This is one of the most important projects for the Serbian Rugby League Federation for this year. Five clubs participated, more than 100 under-18 players played in this competition.  The plan for next year is to introduce the Serbian U16 domestic competition.“