The Mallee Bulls were forced to come from behind twice before eventually prevailing 27-14 over a stubborn Cows side.

NSW Country rep Paul Tuala withdrew from the match with a back injury and had to settle for handing out water bottles to his Uni teammates.

Kiama drew first blood with Matt Cook’s converted try in the opening minutes before Uni’s Don Nepia kicked a pair of penalty goals to make it 7-6.

The Bulls forged ahead with a converted try to Jason Hughes just before halftime but fell behind again early in the second half when Kiama winger Aden Wade intercepted an ill-advised Uni pass and scooted away to score under the posts.

Uni responded with Chris Miller’s converted try and sealed victory with Matt Lee’s converted try.

Repeated efforts to chalk up a fourth try in the final 10 minutes were doggedly thwarted by the Cows.

‘‘We should’ve got a bonus point try because we need that, but it’s still Kiama’s first loss so we’re very proud to beat those guys,’’ Uni coach Dion Miller said.

Both teams struggled to execute offensively, particularly in the first half as handling errors piled up.

The second half wasn’t a big improvement, though the Bulls managed to retain enough possession to mount pressure in Kiama’s territory and turn it into points.

Uni’s win was their fourth in five games, while Cows have won three of four.

‘‘We haven’t hit out straps yet, but we’re building as a big group and we’re travelling really well,’’ Miller said.

‘‘We’ve been blooding first and second grade as one unit and it’s starting to pay off. Previously it’s been a bit hard on the more experienced players, but now we’re trying to turn second graders into first graders so we’ve got a bit more depth.

‘‘It seems to be working, and we’re going to have some pretty big headaches ahead of us with selection, but the boys are happy with that. Guys have to fight for positions.’’

Miller said the Bulls can’t afford to look too far ahead.

‘‘You can’t pre-empt your games anymore,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s got a lot to do with the new bench system they’re running now, because you can’t just rotate the substitutions. You have to be calculated with your substitutions instead of just rolling subs on and off. It seems to be keeping the scores fairly even and you’re getting a full 80 minutes of rugby.’’

Kiama coach Darryl Thomas was puzzled by some refereeing decisions but preferred not to elaborate.

He was more focused on his team’s wholehearted effort against the titleholders.

‘‘The boys put their hand up and tried hard right through the 80 minutes,’’ Thomas said.

‘‘I couldn’t be happier with our effort. We got a couple of injuries early to key guys and we just ran out of troops in the end.

‘‘Obviously their scrum was good and that hurts when your scrum is under pressure.

‘‘We’ll have to check our injury toll come Monday, but we’re fairly happy with the way we’re going.’’

Campbelltown remained unbeaten with a 35-30 road win over Shamrocks, while slumping Camden were thrashed 47-7 by Vikings.

Avondale romped to a 37-0 victory over Tech Waratahs and Shoalhaven posted a 20-5 home win over Bowral.

Ladder: Campbelltown 24, Avondale 20, University 18, Vikings 16, Kiama 15, Shoalhaven 10, Shamrocks 6, Bowral 4, Camden 1, Tech Waratahs 0