Bathurst clubs prevail in two wildly different AFL Central West senior men's tier one victories

The Giants kept the Dubbo Demons scoreless for the last three quarters of the game at South Dubbo Oval in a 24-25-169 to 1-1-7 result, making a monster statement ahead of their upcoming derby with the Bushrangers.

Meanwhile, Bushrangers had to call on several younger players to fill the void left by injured players for their game away at Waratahs, and then had to get the better of a fired up Tigers side on their Long-Byrne Cup day.

One goal was all that separated the club as Bushrangers got home 9-9-63 to 8-9-57.

For the Giants it was close to the ultimate performance.

Everything was executed well from the club, except for their accuracy in front of goal, but it was only a minor blip in an otherwise stunning day at Dubbo.

"It was a great effort from the guys. We were a bit inaccurate so it could have been even bigger," Giants coach Shane Broes said.

"It's something to work on going forward. I think a couple of shots were taken when they shouldn't have, but you can't complain too much when you're winning like that.

"Across the board it was one of our best team performances and everything went well on the day. Our backline was obviously strong to not let them score again after quarter-time.

"Our forwards functioned really well. While the accuracy was down it was a really great day at the office."

Giants really hammered home the point with an eight goal final term.

Those extra points could prove valuable for the team in the race towards the minor premiership.

They still lead by four points over their rivals but now also lead on percentage (260 to 237).

In the Bushrangers' game it was a strong third quarter from the Bathurst men that would prove vital to their win.

The team went from a one-point half-time deficit to a 17 point lead at the last break.

Tigers showed that the job was far from done for the Bushrangers, as the Bathurst men were outscored three goals to one in the last quarter, but the buffer they'd built up was enough to get the points.

Bushrangers captain Andrew James said that the day was a big test for the team.

"We had a fair few players out, a couple with head knocks and a couple of others who were away, which meant a few kids made their debuts, which was really cool," he said.

"Matty Archer's little brother Oscar made his debut for the club, so there's another Archer that's played for the Bushrangers. That was a great experience.

"Being Long-Byrne Cup day Orange always come out hard and physical. They got the second quarter jump on us but we were able to hold them off for the third and fourth quarters.

"The last two minutes we were up by about three goals and then from a couple of turnovers they found two quick goals, so that was a nervous finish. Another few minutes would have made things interesting."

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