Dewhurst lifts in-form Eagles to rare victory at Pride Park | Photos

The gun openside flanker was sensational for the visiting Eagles for the entire game, but a 10-minute period that stretched either side of half-time where Dewhurst tore the Lions apart was instrumental in the bonus point win, rocketing the resurgent Cowra Rugby Club into third on the Blowes Clothing Cup ladder.

Dewhurt’s burst coincided with City losing Sam Dwyer for 10 minutes after the burly outside back was handed a yellow card for a professional foul just before the break.

The Central West gun scored his first try on the back of a rolling maul immediately after Dwyer left the field, before crossing on the second phase after the break and then setting up winger Kirk Stanbridge in the 46^th minute to turn a two-point lead into a 25-5 advantage in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

The rest of the game was fairly even, a try to Cowra centre Kali Nacina off-set by a five-pointer to tireless Lions forward Will Ryan.

But Dewhurst had one final trick up his sleeve in the round nine clash, putting back-up halfback Isaac Gonevou in for a try at the death to leave a lasting impression on the small but vocal Lions contingent that braved the freezing conditions at Waratahs Sportsground on Saturday.

“I got lucky. Right place, right time,” Dewhurst smiled, the 23-point win following a gritty victory over Emus in the previous round.

“I think we’re building. We’re stringing wins together. We’ve got the team to be playing this type of footy.

“I think we showed last game we can punch up there with sides like Emus, we’re looking forward to having the Dogs at home.”

That clash with the second-placed Bulldogs is in two weeks time and follows Cowra’s trip to Forbes to face the defending premiers.

Dewhurst believes if Cowra is to build on its current three-game winning streak, then more discipline and playing more direct rugby, something the Eagles strayed away from in the first half against the Lions, is imperative.

“And our defence, we’ve slipped off tackles of late but we’re getting more solid there but I think we’ve still got a lot of room to improve,” he said.

“But it’s silly for us to look too far ahead at the moment. We’ve got to keep improving and see where we end up at the end of the season.”

It’s the first time in recent memory Cowra has managed a victory at Pride Park, with the closest result a 26-24 Lions win in 2016.

With City at home and determined to both maintain its home record over Cowra and turn around a 59-7 loss to Roos before the long weekend general bye, the only thing that separated the the dogged Lions and the Eagles after Josh Tremain and Troy Jeffs tries, respectively, was the boot of Cowra fullback Jack Thurtell.

But that 7-5 margin was as close as City would get.

“I wish the half-time break didn’t come," Lions skipper Josh Tremain laughed.

“I don’t know what happened, we were right in there ... I can’t explain it.

“I guess they stepped up a notch and we went down a peg, which is disappointing because we were right in that.”

Tremain was tough up-front for the hosts, while flanker Ben Swadling and centre Dwyer, despite the yellow card, were both tremendous.

On top of Dewhurst, Cowra prop Joe Dakuitoga proved a lively figure in general play, on top of his rock solid work at the set piece, while fellow prop Tom Cummins had one of his best games in Eagles colours.