A late penalty has denied CSU what would have been a hard-earned draw in their top-of-the-table New Holland Agriculture Cup clash at home against the Narromine Gorillas on Saturday.

CSU fought back to make it a 22-all game in front of a vocal family day crowd - despite the weight of possession not falling their way - before the boot of Gorillas' Carlos Nykolyn secured the victory.

The win has earned the Gorillas hosting rights for their upcoming major semi-final against the students.

CSU may have entered the match lacking depth in their scrum but with an undefeated record at home and plenty of support in the crowd they had plenty of belief.

The loss hasn't dampened the spirits of CSU coach David Conyers and his side, in fact it's given the mentor confidence that his men have what it takes to go the distance.

"We lost seven lineouts, we lost five tighthead scrums and we lost seven breakdown balls. With no possession and to be able to still test them like that was satisfying for all of us," he said.

"We didn't have one specialist second rower in there. We've held Narromine's scrum well all year but we lost both our second rowers - one through injury and one through suspension - and unfortunately we just don't have any depth at that position in the club."

After the teams exchanged early tries the Gorillas began to assert their authority on the game as the students struggled to build up lengthy passages of play.

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Gorillas got out to a 17-5 lead, utilising their strength advantage to bulldoze across the CSU line with several rolling mauls.

CSU picked up a vital try before the break to lift the spirits both of the supporters and in the dressing rooms.

The hosts tied the game up with a try five minutes out from full-time but just as the game appeared to be heading for a draw the students coughed the ball up inside their own 22m.

From there the Gorillas earned a penalty in the ruck to give them a shot at victory.

"A draw would have been a really fitting result for our efforts and would have maintained our unbeaten run on the field," Conyers said.

"We almost won the game on just scraps. That's the third week we've been under severe adversity, with uni holidays and with the debacle in Dubbo last week, and they've proved they can almost win with all that pressure on them. It builds character and toughness."