A big second half performance saw Panthers pile on four tries – three of them in the space of 15 minutes – while the fate of the game was still undecided.

A late rally from CYMS briefly saw them threaten as they got to within eight points with five minutes to play, but a well-deserved try to Mitch Davis on the siren re-instated a margin that was reflective of the match.

“This has been coming for a few weeks,” Panthers coach John Fearnley said after the match.

“The young guys are getting more and more confident the more they play, and having a few fresh reserves worked well for us.

“What we did today was to play at a good level for 80 minutes. We’ve done it for 20 and 30 minute periods in the last few weeks but today showed what we can do if we keep that level for a full game.”

The signs were good early on for the home side as Christian Luyks crossed after some nice work from second-rower Michael Wicks, and their discipline was good thereafter.

Unlike previous weeks, they didn’t give their opposition a leg-up into the game via lost balls and penalties, and CYMS weren’t able to cross the stripe until the half-hour mark.

A relatively harmless kick from captain-coach Michael Sullivan was fumbled, allowing Cody Robbins to score but it was to be their only joy in the first 70 minutes of play.

Nearing half-time, a bomb from Panthers half Trent Hotham bounced off CYMS custodian Tim Bassmann for Sam Hewitt to pick up the loose ball and score, and Fearnley would have been more than pleased with his side’s predicament at the break.

If he wasn’t, he would have been a few minutes into the second half when prop Brent Seager levelled Epa Navale with a thunderous hit, and soon afterwards, on the back of a Matt Kirkland bust, James Higgins put his team up 16-6.

With confidence growing, five-eight James Woolmington produced a 40-20 kick from the next set, and Hewitt was in for his second when quick hands found him unmarked on the left wing.

Ten minutes later, William “Bubba” Kennedy perfectly poached an intercept near his own line from a Sullivan pass, and though his veteran legs made tougher work of the ensuing run than they once would have in the past, he had just enough speed to score the try.

At 26-6 the game was all but over, and though CYMS to their credit didn’t throw in the towel, their inability to hold the ball and pressure Panthers for more than a few minutes at a time was costly.

It was their second defeat of the season, and Sullivan was particularly unenthused by his team’s performance.

“I’ve seen this sort of loss coming for a while,” he said.

“We were poor, our ball control was poor and we gave away too many penalties. We lost twice to Panthers last year and we weren’t complacent at all this time.

“We just didn’t play well. There was no stage where I thought we were going to win, given the way we played.

“There are really no positives at all that we can take out of it, we’ll sweep it away and look to try and bounce back with a win at home next week against Cowra.”