AFL Central West: Bathurst Bushrangers lock in major semi-final following convincing victory over Dubbo

Bushrangers' speed of play and dominance in the midfield led to a comfortable 12-14-86 to 2-7-19 success in their AFL Central West senior men's clash on neutral turf.

The Bathurst men not only claimed revenge against the Demons after going down to them in a rare home defeat, but they also officially secured their place in the major semi-final in the process.

Bushrangers co-coach Matt Archer said things really began to click in the second quarter after the team battled the breeze in the opening term.

"We went against the breeze in the first quarter but in that first ten 10 minutes we played really well, and probably should have kicked a couple more goals. Luckily the guys dug in until the end of that quarter and Dubbo couldn't get a score," he said.

"The second quarter we went with the breeze and we were able to suffocate them by locking the ball into our forward half. From there on we were able to work really well with the ball and I was proud of the way the guys responded.

"I personally prefer to go against the wind but I know Tim [Hunter, co-coach] likes to go with it, but we lost the toss so that took it out of our hands. When you're going against it in the first quarter that means you've really got to step things up, and that's what the guys did."

Archer said it was great to see some of the Bushrangers' key men having high quality performances close to finals.

"Our midfield were outstanding all day. AJ [Andrew James] and Bill [Watterson] both probably had their best games of the season," he said.

"When they're firing it makes it hard for anyone to match up. That brings our half backs like Scott Brown and Nathan Swards into the game.

"It was nice to play in dry conditions. There was that breeze through the game but it was great to have things dry underfoot. That suits our midfield because we like to play a bit quicker through our midfield."

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