ORANGE CYMS kept Mudgee Dragons off the board across the second half to come away 39-14 winners in Saturday's Group 10 magic round at Carrington Park.
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CYMS didn't let the Dragons make any further impact to the scoreboard after carrying a close 20-14 advantage at the break - a performance which pleased captain Dan Mortimer.
"It was disappointing to let them back in the game in the first half because I felt like we were the dominant team, and we can't be doing that come finals," he said.
"The second half was so pleasing, keeping them to zero. That's the way we need to be playing if we're going to go for glory this year.
"Our defence is something that we've been working really hard on, and our boys are really buying in and trusting each other. It's been tough this year with so many byes to get that cohesion going but that second half definitely showed what we are capable of."
CYMS threatened to gap the Dragons early on when winger Addison Williams ran in for back-to-back tries to run out to a 12-0 lead.
Dragons got one back through centre Jake Durrant but CYMS didn't take long to respond as Kaden Williams ran through a big gap to take the score out to 16-4.
The back-and-forth nature of the half continued when Durrant caught a bomb and handed it off to Hamish Bryant for a try.
CYMS' Jordan Clark was the recipient of a perfectly placed kick to the right wing but Dragons reduced the deficit to 20-14 just before half-time when Nathan Orr responded in kind.
The Orange men started their second half in a similar fashion to the first, coming out firing with two tries in the opening 13 minutes.
A Dragons error saw Kaden Williams stroll over for an easy try, before Mortimer got on the end of a grubber kick to make it 32-14.
Discipline began to wane in the Dragons' ranks and it led to hooker Billy Carberry being sent to the sin bin, for repeated infringements.
CYMS lost their way in attack, and couldn't capitalise on the one-man advantage, but they did get one more try to their name before the final siren thanks to Adam Stanford.
Just for fun, Mortimer rounded out the game with a successful field goal from a tough angle.
ORANGE CYMS 39 (Addison Williams 2, Kaden Williams 2, Jordan Clark, Dan Mortimer, Adam Stanford tries; Addison Williams 5 conversions; Mortimer field goal) defeated MUDGEE DRAGONS 14 (Jake Durrant, Hamish Bryant, Nathan Orr tries; Harry Siejka conversion)
Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
