Orange CYMS righted some of the wrongs from their round one loss at Blayney's King George Oval on Friday afternoon, securing their first win of the 2019 Group 10 premier league season over a fighting Bears outfit.
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Player-coach Dom Maley said his side was found wanting in their season-opening loss to Bathurst St Pat's after not chancing their arm enough in scoring positions and while they were guilty of going to the other extreme on Friday, he was nonetheless pleased with the 44-16 win.
Giant prop Joseph Ualesi and former NRL superstar Chris Grevsmuhl were particularly damaging through the middle and the likes of Travis Adelerhof and Ben McAlpine took full advantage of the space they created, both crossed for doubles in the 28-point victory.
"I said before the game it was really important for us to take two points away [on Friday] and we did that, so that's a big positive we've got our season rolling, especially with a tough road trip to Oberon next up," Maley, who's sidelined with a torn pec, said.
"We'll welcome a few back next week I think so that'll help on that road trip and if we can through that one with more points and be there or thereabouts, we'll be in pretty good shape because we've got three home games after that one.
"But there is a few things to work on, midway through the first half we probably fell into the trap of trying a little bit too hard and we definitely did that in the second half, our completion rate was only about 50 per cent after half time.
"So we've probably gone a bit too far the other way from where we were in round one."
WATCH: CYMS' Ben McAlpine waltzes over for his second try of the afternoon
Maley's point was reflected in the scoreline throughout the clash too.
Early indications suggested an absolute thumping might be likely after Jarred Tyack and Lachie Munro crossed in the opening stages and, after the Bears forced two repeat sets back-to-back but couldn't capitalise, Josh Burke scored for the green and golds again at the 15-minute mark.
McAlpine slotted two conversions to give the visitors a 16-nil lead in as many minutes but, as Maley said, the green and golds began forcing the issue to build on their lead and a number of attacking chances petered into nothing as a result.
With veteran pivot Steve Lane pulling the strings the Bears rolled back into the game as errors crept into CYMS' performance, cutting the gap to just six points through Ryley Oborn and Lhiam Burrell.
The green and golds found their groove again late in the opening period through, with Steve Morris, McAlpine and Adelerhof all crossing in a five-minute, three-try blitz which pushed their lead out to 32-10 at the break.
That margin was extended to 28 when Adelerhof waltzed over for his second nine minutes into the second half, halfway through Blayney lock Joey Hobby's stint in the sin bin, he was given 10 after holding Burke down in a tackle following a 44th-minute line break.
CYMS created plenty more chances and Blayney's errors and lack of discipline gifted them a few too, but they butchered several and, to the hosts' credit, the Bears held them out a number of occasions through sheer will-power.
WATCH: Blayney hold out in CYMS with some spirited second-half defence
Blayney actually scored next through Robert Lane, who latched onto a Steve Lane chip and chase with a tick over 20 to go and with the score at 38-16 the Bears did somewhat threaten a late surge.
Lane looked dangerous with every touch and fullback Carter Hirini did too, but any potential comeback was derailed when Travis Warinara was sent off for striking in the 70th minute.
CYMS' defence held too, and McAlpine finished the job by scoring his second and converting in just before the full-time whistle.
"It is a little bit disappointing we couldn't really finish it off and put them away, the second half was only 12-6, so we'd like to do a bit more in that situation I think," Maley said.
"But Blayney hung in there, they were down to 12 for 20 minutes so they certainly deserve some credit for keeping us to that scoreline."
The Bears did show enough to suggest they'll cause teams problems in 2019, when they managed to string some sets together they looked dangerous with, on top of Lane and Hirini, lock Joey Hobby and winger Nelson Daplan asking plenty of questions of CYMS' line.
But as coach Ben McKenna highlighted, the result was never likely to fall in Blayney's favour when they gave away "cheap penalties" and played a man down for the bulk of the second half.
"There is positive signs and we've got quite a bit to work with out here but we need to control the ball a bit more, we made a lot of errors and gave away plenty of cheap penalties too, that really hurt us," McKenna said.
"We had one in the bin and one sent off too, CYMS are just too good a side to play against with 12 players, especially when you're behind. They're a quality side, big pack, and hats off to them for bouncing back from last week."
CYMS are expected to, at least, welcome hooker Ryan Griffin back into the side for next weekend's trip to face the Tigers, although Luke Morris has done a good job in the No.9 jersey in his absence.
Blayney on the other hand, host the undefeated Mudgee Dragons, the Jack Littlejohn-coached side edged out Oberon 24-18 on Friday afternoon.
- ORANGE CYMS 44 (Travis Adelerhof 2, Ben McAlpine 2, Jarred Tyack, Lachie Munro, Josh Burke, Steve Morris tries; McAlpine 6 goals) def BLAYNEY BEARS 16 (Lhiam Burrell, Ryley Oborn, Robert Lane tries; Steve Lane 2 goals)
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