TWO tries in the final ten minutes of Sunday's Group 10 local derby helped Orange Hawks steal a 24-18 victory over rivals Orange CYMS.
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With Hawks trailing CYMS 18-16, two blues' stand in halfback Brock McGarity orchestrated a stunning comeback in the final stages of the game.
McGarity set up tries for Justin Howarth and Lawrence Fogg in the final eight minutes to secure the come from behind victory, extending the two blues' unbeaten run to four games.
Hawks gained ascendency from the outset, with the opening exchanges riddled with green and gold handling errors.
Hawks' plethora of possession translated into points when front rower Nathan Warner latched onto a Tim Mortimer grubber in the seventh minute, with McGarity's conversion giving Hawks an early 6-nil lead.
CYMS struck back just four minutes later when Riley Law crashed over, with Ben McAlpine adding the extras.
Hawks took the lead again in the 20th minute when wrecking ball Arty Shead carried four defenders over, with McGarity nailing his second conversion.
The scores remained the same until Ben McAlpine combined with Tim Bassmann on the stroke of the half time, producing a magical piece of play.
From a scrum on his own 30 metre line McAlpine kicked long and Bassmann outpaced his opponents as the ball stopped inches short of the dead ball line to score a breathtaking try.
McAlpine nailed the sideline conversion to go into the break 12-all.
A converted Pat Galea try early in the second period gave CYMS the lead for the first time, before errors once again crept into the 2013 premiers' game.
With Hawks again enjoying the bulk of possession McGarity imposed himself on the game, kicking a crucial 40-20 with 20 minutes to play before linking with Joe Lasagavibau, who sent Jared Brodrick crashing over on the end of a sweeping back line move.
McGarity then produced a stunning cut-out ball to find Lasagavibau in space, who offloaded for Howarth to score, before sending Fogg over to secure the win.
"It's a great feeling," Mortimer, Hawks' captain-coach, said.
"I'm so proud of our boys. Either team could have won that, it was just a slog.
"That was as close to an 80 minute performance as we have put in."
CYMS captain coach Mick Sullivan cut a dejected figure after the loss, lamenting his side's lack of execution in its fourth loss in a row.
"They're a quality side, hats off to them," he said.
"Execution was a terrible problem. I doubt we completed any sets at all ... it didn't flow for us at all and it hasn't for the last few weeks.
"Our fitness will get a look at, and our personal attitude. It takes a lot of little things away from the field to get the on field stuff right."
ORANGE HAWKS 24 (Nathan Warner, Arty Shead, Jared Brodrick, Justin Howarth, Lawrence Fogg tries; Brock McGarity 2 conv) def ORANGE CYMS 18 (Riley Law, Tim Bassmann, Pat Galea tries; Ben McAlpine 3 conv).
