A SECOND half onslaught has secured Bathurst Panthers victory in their annual pre-season knockout for the first time since 2007, smoking defending Group 10 premier league champions Orange CYMS 38-6 in the decider on Saturday afternoon at Carrington Park.

It is not since the days that Dave Elvy coached the Panthers that the men in black have taken out the annual knockout – under his guidance they won four consecutive titles between 2004-07.

Since then there have been appearances in the finals, but the Panthers were not able to gain a similar confidence boost going into a Group 10 season proper.

Now they have it.

With their only match prior to the knockout a trial against Cowra – which they lost – the Panthers were not really expected to be a threat at the annual tournament.

However, they found themselves in the decider against a CYMS team who, despite their recent dominance of the Group 10 premier league competition, had struggled at the knockout.

At half-time in the decider the title was very much up for grabs, with Panthers leading the Orange outfit 12-6.

But when play resumed Panthers soon changed that as crisp passing allowed them to find space on the edges of CYMS’ defence. They ran in five tries in the space of 15 minutes to claim their first knockout crown in nine years.

Panthers coach Todd Barrow was pleased with not only the potent attack his side showed in the 40-minute final, but the sturdiness of their defence.

“It’s a good start to the year. We’re really happy with how we went. The boys worked very hard over the weekend to get the good result at the end,” he said.

“I think it was our defence, to be honest. That first five to 10 minutes they had probably three or four sets in a row on our line, but the boys stayed strong in defence and held them out. That’s set the game up for us in the back end.

“We had a lot of the young guys step up. We’ve still got a couple of boys missing, so I think that shows the depth that we’ve got this year that hasn’t been there in previous years. The amount of young guys stepping up and playing beyond their years – it’s a good start.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but it’s great to kick off the year this way.”

No-one would have imagined the final score early in the decider as the hosts were forced to defend several sets close to their own try line. 

Matt Morris went over from close range to put CYMS on the board first and with Brock McGarity’s conversion, they held a 6-0 lead.

Little did CYMS know that was to be their last points of the knockout.

Panthers soon replied as Nick Loader reached over beside the uprights to score and a successful conversion from new recruit Jye Barrow levelled things at 6-all.

Chris Shephard ensured Panthers went into half-time with the lead as he scored in the final minutes before the break.

When play resumed, Jake Betts’ barnstorming run down the middle of the field on the kick-off return set the tone for a dominant 20 minutes of football from Panthers.

A penalty allowed the Panthers an early set close to CYMS’ line and they seized their opportunity as Trent Hotham’s long pass to the left wing found Braydn Cassidy unmarked.

Panthers’ best try of the day was to follow – Hotham crossing after a lengthy series of passes down the right wing. With Barrow’s conversion, it pushed the score out to 22-6.

Shephard picked up his second try of the decider when he scored off a Jeremy Gordon bomb and Barrow followed up with his own four-pointer after Cassidy found space down the left wing.

In what summed up CYMS’ second half woes, the final try came as they allowed a bomb to bounce and it wound up in the hands of Mitch Davis.

BATHURST PANTHERS 38 (Chris Shephard 2, Nick Loader, Braydn Cassidy, Trent Hotham, Jye Barrow, Mitch Davis tries; Jye Barrow 5 conversions) defeated ORANGE CYMS 6 (Matt Morris try; Brock McGarity conversion)