Kempston's heroics help keep Raiders firmly in the race for PMP finals

Charlie Kempston's hat-trick was the highlight for Macquarie as they recorded a 32-10 win over the Orange Hawks at Apex Oval on Sunday.

Playing on the left win, Kempston made the most of some early attacking raids and pinpoint kicks but was happy to stay modest.

"I'm stoked really, it's just a good effort from all the boys," he said.

"The boys in the middle got the ball wide and we made the most of it."

Hawks had their moments where it looked as though they were going give Macquarie a real challenge but Orange coach Shane Rodney felt his side were simply outplayed.

"It was a tough afternoon, they are a very good team and have been in every contest this year so I knew it would be a tough game," he said.

"They've got a lot of good players and were just a bit too good today. It was pretty close at half-time but they scored a few tries in the second half off some kicks into the sun which hurt us.

"They were far too good if I'm being brutally honest, I think the scoreline could have been a lot worse."

Kempston opened the scoring early for Macquarie with his brother, Jack also crossing to give the Raiders an early lead.

Hawks second-rower Ethan Young scored just before half-time to give the visitors some hope, trailing 12-6 at the break.

However, it was all Macquarie in the second half with Kempston crossing twice more while Carl Ralph and Ash Widders also scored tries.

Things went from bad to worse for the Hawks with Lachie Lawson going off with an injured leg while Ryan Manning was sin-binned late in the game.

Hawks' Connor Vardanega scored with five minutes remaining to give the travelling fans something to smile about.

In such a close competition, wins for Macquarie are vital in the finals race and Kempston knows they have what it takes to play at the end of the season.

"It was a good win, we've had two losses in a row so it was good to come back and get a win today," he said

"It was a must-win game really so hopefully we can finish somewhere around the top eight.

MACQUARIE RAIDERS 32 (Charlie Kemspston 3, Carl Ralph, Ash Widders, Jack Kempston tries; Jason Boney 4 conversions) defeated ORANGE HAWKS 10 (Connor Vardanega, Ethan Young tries; Ryan Manning conversion)