The first Noel Murray Memorial Cup clash proved to be an one-sided affair as the premiers dictated from start to finished.

Southcity scored four tries in the opening 20 minutes and were never seriously challenged by their cross town rivals on the way to a 56-0 victory.

Kangaroos scored their first win over the Bulls in eight years earlier in the season, but there was no repeating that performance as their finals hopes were extinguished.

Keeping Kangaroos scoreless was what pleased Southcity captain-coach Kyle McCarthy the most.

“Our goal line defence was rock solid,” McCarthy said. 

“Any time the ball went past we kept sliding on the inside and everyone was filling in for each other.

“It was really good.

“The score we didn’t real care about too much but keeping them to nil was the best thing.”

Southcity led 38-0 at half-time and while they weren’t their attacking best in the second stanza still crossed for another three tries.

Kangaroos had more attacking opportunities in the second stanza but made little use of it.

“Seven straight completions really set the tone,” McCarthy said.

“It took a fair bit of juice out of their tank and we were up on a high.

“Even when we did make errors we really rallied against each other and had real good defence to keep them to nil.”

Jake Dooley and Steven Tracey both scored doubles in the win while former coach Nick Skinner capped off his return from a 10-week lay-off with another four pointer.

With Hayden Jeans and Cameron Copeland both sustaining heavy knocks, the return of Skinner in the front row was definitely well received.

“It is good to get bodies like Skin back on the field and we are building nicely,” McCarthy said.

“We’ve got a nice week off now and can relax before building into that final month of footy.”

An intercept try to Steve Tracey set the tone for the big win.

He swooped on a ball from Tyson McLachlan to score a 60-metre try.

One the next set Dooley scored his first and Kanagroos still hadn’t touched the ball again when the fullback scored his second after 14 minutes.

Jack Lyons then scored after his old club before Usaia O’Sullivan went the length of the field and Ross spilled an attacking kick of their own.

Pani Manawatu scored just on half-time before tries to Luke McBeath, Skinner and Tracey sealed the win.

Heading into the split round bye on top the ladder, the Bulls will remain there regardless how Brothers perform against Cootamundra next Sunday.

It will set up a mouthwatering clash between the top two sides at Harris Park on July 29.

Brothers got the better of them last time, but Southcity are on the back off a six-game unbeaten streak since then.