A GAMBLE by Parkes to concede a first-half advantage paid off on Saturday, with the Boars consolidating second place on the Blowes Clothing Cup ladder with a 34-24 win over Dubbo Kangaroos at No.1 Oval.
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After winning the toss Parkes captain Dan Ryan elected to run into a strong wind in the first stanza.
The tactic paid off handsomely as the visitors were able to overturn a 19-10 half-time deficit by utilising good field position to run in four second-half tries.
With the wind at their backs the Roos were able to get off to a flying start, with fly-half Ted Bates opening the scoring with a solo try under the posts in the opening minutes.
Parkes hit back shortly after through centre Matt Hunter but Dubbo dominated the rest of the half, with Sam Martel giving the hosts a 12-7 lead before winger Wade Richardson took an intercept only to be dragged down inches short of the line.
It mattered little though as he finished off the job two plays later, and Simon Murphy's conversion gave the Roos a 19-7 lead.
Parkes reduced the margin to nine points on the stroke of half-time when Ryan slotted a penalty goal.
Dubbo's lead was further eaten into when Jonny Rathbone scored early in the second half before Parkes took the lead through hooker Max Keith, who caught a deflected lineout and ran down the sideline.
Rathbone's second try gave the Boars a 27-19 lead but Dubbo gave themselves an outside chance of victory when Charlie Luteru scored his side's fourth try with two minutes remaining to cut the margin to three.
As Dubbo threw the ball around looking to find a gap Parkes fly-half Mahe Fangupu swooped, taking an intercept and running 50m to seal his side's win.
Afterwards Ryan admitted things went to plan for his side, particularly in the second half.
"We chose to go against the wind in the first half and to only be down by nine at half-time probably wasn't a bad result," he said. "Our second half was good. We were able to play good field position and we made the most of our chances by putting some points on the board.
"Dubbo are a very good side though. They really made us work hard for it and they gave themselves a shot at winning it late so we're happy to walk away with the points."
For the Roos, coach Gus McDonald praised his side's effort saying a couple of bounces of the ball had gone against them.
"Parkes are a top team and you need everything to go your way to beat them and today we didn't get that," he said.
"They scored off a deflected lineout and then right at the end we were hurling the ball around and they took an intercept.
"In the end we probably didn't make the most of that wind in the first half but I couldn't fault the boys' effort today. If we keep playing like that we'll win more than we lose."
PARKES BOARS 34 (Jonny Rathbone 2, Matt Hunter, Max Keith, Mahe Fangupu tries; Dan Ryan 3 convs, 1 pen) def DUBBO KANGAROOS 24 (Ted Bates, Sam Martel, Wade Richardson, Charlie Luteru tries; Simon Murphy 2 convs)