A SOLID defensive effort ensured Orange City claimed another Central West Rugby Union bonus-point victory on Saturday while at the same time resigned CSU to another defeat.

The Lions conceded just one try as they toppled a determined CSU 38-7 at Pride Park.

CSU may have lost, but coach James McLaren couldn't fault the effort of his players.

"They could have just turned the heat off at half-time, 26 points down and getting away, but they really stuck to it," McLaren said.

"Orange City are a good side and they're big and talented across the park, so we were always going to be up against it, but when you see that effort it's why you rock up Tuesday and Thursday."

Not surprisingly, defence was a highlight of the game for Lions co-coach Mick Gray.

"We only let in one try today and that was by an intercept. We didn't let in anything in last week [against Narromine], so our defence over the last two weeks has been really good. We're pleased with that," Gray smiled.

It was a scrappy opening 15 minutes, with both sides showing glimpses of what was to come, while also suffering at the hands of a greasy track.

At the 20-minute mark the Lions seemed to click into gear and fullback Sam Coote made a great run down the left wing.

From there the ball was spread right to inside-centre Mesui Lemoto, who sprinted around the defence and ran it in under the posts.

He kicked the extras for City to lead 7-0, but that became 12-0 minutes later when flanker Mitch Pearce burrowed his way over.

Late in the opening stanza City winger Sione Amone showed his speed and strength to score two tries. Lemoto converted both for the Lions to be up 26-0 at the break.

The hosts continued their momentum early in the second half with flanker Duncan Young scoring after repeat phases for the Lions to push the lead out to 31-0.

From here the match became an arm-wrestle until CSU flyhalf Cam Backhouse latched onto an Orange City pass with 11 minutes left in the game.

The Lions were dominating possession in the CSU half and looked to be building towards scoring more points when Backhouse grabbed a City pass and ran 80 metres to score under the posts.

He subbed himself off immediately as Pat Hill kicked the extras for the students.

The struggle continued for both sides until Lions replacement Ben Swadling scored his first top grade try. Lemoto's conversion locked up the 31-point win.

"That was a good game for us. We did what we wanted to do," Gray said.

"Our first half was probably better than our second, but sometimes you put the bench on and you lose a bit of continuity. But it was good. It was a good result for us."

The competition will have a general by next Saturday for the June long weekend.

ORANGE CITY 38 (Sione Amone 2, Mesui Lemoto, Mitch Pearce, Duncan Young, Ben Swadling tries; Mesui Lemoto 4 conversions) defeated CSU 7 (Cam Backhouse try; Pat Hill conversion)