ORANGE Emus have gone down to the Forbes Platypi 15-12 at Grinsted Park on Saturday.
In a low scoring affair, Forbes broke through for their first win of the 2012 Blowes Clothing Cup season thanks largely to a strong first-half effort which saw them race out to a 15-5 lead over the Greens.
Keith Howarth opened the scoring for Emus, scoring the visitors first five-pointer off the back of a rolling maul.
Emus scored the only points of the second half thanks to Nick Mullen when, like Howarth, he capitalised on the good work of the Emus pack to score from a maul.
The three-point defeat is good enough for Emus to pick up a bonus point, leaving the club in fourth on the Central West Rugby Union first grade ladder.
Coach Paul Ringland said his side missed the guidance of both the injured Nigel Staniforth and skipper Andrew Swain.
“I think the application was there we struggled a little bit with confidence and leadership. Without Swainy there we struggled a little bit in those areas,” Ringland said.
“I think looking at the ladder we’re still in fourth, it’s not the end of the world.
“It’s a game we would have liked to have won given we have a few tough matches at the end of the first round but we’ll just have to role up our sleeves and put in the hard work at training.”
Emus take on Cowra next weekend before games against Dubbo Rhinos, Narromine and the undefeated Orange City to round out round one.
FORBES PLATYPI 15 def ORANGE EMUS 12 (Keith Howarth, Nick Mullen tries; Graydon Saniforth conv).