ORANGE CYMS were able to end their losing streak on Saturday with a 32-14 Group 10 win over Blayney.
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CYMS had lost their previous four matches, a streak which had been unheard of while under the guidance of captain-coach Mick Sullivan.
On Saturday, at Blayney's King George Oval, the defending premiers turned things around to record an 18-point win.
"It's better to be on the right side of things again," Sullivan smiled.
"It just seemed like we clicked today."
Both sides had some handling errors early in the game before CYMS centre Scott Piper opened the scoring six minutes in when he crashed over in the right corner.
It was 4-all after 17 minutes when the CYMS defence fumbled a Bears grubber and centre Alex Pettit was there to scoop up the loose ball and dive over for the hosts.
CYMS then settled in and put on three tries to forwards Zac Bohan, Ben Gosper and Ryan Prevett, with Ben McApline's three conversions pushing the score out to 22-4.
The Bears had the final say before the break when centre Kurt Beahan skipped through a gap to score and make it 22-8.
It looked like Blayney were mounting a comeback when they were first to score in the second half when captain-coach Terawhiti Cooper barged through the defence.
Josh Rainbow added the extras, but it was the last time Blayney would add to their score.
CYMS responded immediately with forward Brent Colley busting through a gap to score, with McApline again converting.
With just over 20 minutes left on the clock, Blayney five-eighth Terry Brown was sin-binned, and two minutes later Beahan joined him on the sideline for coming in late in a tackle.
In an eight-minute period the Blayney defence lifted and CYMS could only crack the 11-man side once when Piper dived over for his second.
The two sides played out the arm wrestle to the final whistle with no change to the score.
Cooper said even though CYMS are not leading the competition this year, they're still the team to measure yourself against.
"No matter how many games CYMS have lost, I'll be honest, they're still like the number one team," Cooper said.
"I don't care who's on top, Mudgee's the one to beat, but CYMS is always the benchmark."
The forward described his team's performance as a "competitive patchy game".
"There was a little bit of desire. We play better when we don't have structure at training," he explained.
"When we're mucking around, we're the best football team of the week. For the first time this week we had the best training and a rubbish outcome. I don't know, we might have to go back to one training a week."
Cooper was impressed with under 18s forward Lochie Hobby who continued to prove himself worthy of being in the top grade.
Sullivan was happy with his side's defence and an improved attitude.
"The boys kept turning up. Attitude was really good this week and it showed in the game," he said.
"You build confidence with wins. Hopefully, the back end of the year, we can start getting a bit more structure and set plays. For now we'll enjoy the win."
Sullivan was impressed with young winger Zac Rue, who made his run-on debut in the top grade, and back-rower Matt Penny.
ORANGE CYMS 32 (Scott Piper 2, Zac Bohan, Ben Gosper, Ryan Prevett, Brent Colley tries; Ben McAlpine 4 goals) def BLAYNEY BEARS 14 (Alex Pettit, Kurt Beahan, Terawhiti Cooper tries; Josh Rainbow goal)
