Both were evident at Ashwood Park on Sunday as the Bulldogs fought back from a 27-0 deficit to defeat Orange City 39-34 in the Blowes Clothing Club elimination semi-final.

It was not only one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of the Bathurst club, but the competition itself.

"It was pretty massive,” Bulldogs co-coach Brian Roberson said.

"That was the first time I have witnessed something of that magnitude.

"It was not only one of the special moments in my coaching career, but also for the club - it was extra special.”

Bulldogs finished the regular season in fourth to earn the home ground advantage for the elimination semi-final, but had not defeated the Lions at Ashwood Park since 2010.

The opening exchanges gave the hosts hope of ending that drought as they enjoyed good possession, but at the 17-minute mark the Lions opened scoring.

City went on to pile on 19 points in the space of four minutes and as the half-time whistle sounded, Bulldogs trailed 27-0.

It had many thinking Bulldogs had just 40 minutes of season 2016 remaining, but Roberson said his men maintained hope.

"I think we had the belief that we could comeback, we didn't actually say that we were out of it,” he said.

"At half-time we said that we had a mountain to climb, a pretty massive one too, but that belief was still there.

"We felt that we controlled a majority of the game in that first half, but in that last 10 minutes we lost our way and they scored four tries.

"I think we were written off by a lot of people at half-time, and that was understandable, but we never lost that belief.”

A nervous Roberson watched on as Bulldogs scored the first points of the second half, but with 30 minutes left, the Lions still looked headed to victory thanks to a 34-12 lead.

But from that point onward, the Orange outfit was kept scoreless.

A Kurt Weekes penalty goal on full-time locked it up at 34-all and Adam Plummer scored in the second five-minute extra-time period to seal the remarkable comeback.

"It was one of those epic games. To come from 27-0 down to win by five is massive, remarkable,” Roberson said.

"Watching was terrible. I never want to do that again. But once we started to get momentum, you could see it unfolding, it was quite exciting once we got that glimmer of hope.

"The guys were out on their legs, they bled for their club, they bled for their jumper.”

But as impressive as that win was, Bulldogs will face elimination once more this Sunday.

The Bathurst outfit needs to beat the Dubbo Kangaroos in Dubbo to keep its premiership hopes alive.

"Now we've got another mountain to club, Dubbo in Dubbo on Sunday. While it is nice to wallow in our glory, we've got to get back to work,” Roberson said.

"But that win gives them a massive improvement in confidence going further into the semi-finals.”