DUBBO Westside coach Rob Lake was at a loss to explain his side's performance yesterday as the Rabbitohs' poor discipline cost them against the Forbes Magpies.
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The Rabbitohs gave away a plethora of penalties and the Magpies took full advantage as they put on one of the most eye-catching first half performances of the year to lead 34-6 at half-time.
The Magpies then controlled the second half and hung on for a hugely impressive 46-16 win, their first victory of the 2014 Group 11 season.
"I don't know what to do, we've got to get back to the drawing board and show up again next week," Lake said after the match.
"Discipline has been terrible, I think our penalties matched the scoreboard, too many penalties."
It was a completely different feeling from the opposition sheds and Forbes mentor Brent McMillan was delighted with his side's efforts.
"It's the first time I've felt this all year so it's spot on, it's a really good feeling," he said.
"We've definitely got the side that can be contenders but we just haven't strung it together so it was good to see because coming over to Dubbo is always a hard challenge and the boys stepped up and had a go today."
The Rabbitohs handed Forbes plenty of field position early and the Magpies made the most of their chances with tries to prop Ben Robinson and five-eighth Blake Baxter sandwiching a Westside try to Shannon Boney.
Magpies centre Kevin Frank then burst on to a short ball and crossed the line before the Magpies went in again through Kye Merritt.
Tim Ashcroft had an outstanding day with the boot and his conversion made it 24-4 after 25 minutes but the Magpies were far from done and they were soon in again as standout Zac Merritt regathered his own chip and chase and put youngster Cameron Greenhalgh under the posts.
Dave Ivehoe crossed out wide for another Forbes try before Rabbitohs fullback Steve Riley slotted a penalty right on half time to make it 34-6.
The momentum stayed with the Magpies after the break and Zac Merritt burst through three attempted tackles and went in under the posts before Westside finally got into the game and scored two quick tries through Corey Ashby and Peter Boon.
Forbes hooker Taz Spackman put the icing on the result and Ashcroft kicked his seventh conversion of the day to make it 46-16.
"The boys never showed up," Lake said after the match.
"We've got to train hard, make a few changes and see how we go next week.
"The crowd was good, we had a good turnout but we've got to turn it around next week against CYMS."
McMillan and the Forbes side were all smiles after the result and the coach said it showed his side was more than capable of mixing it with rest of Group 11.
"They only scored three tries so I'm pretty happy with that," he said.
"We only let in one try in the first half so that I was happy with and we've got a little to work on but hopefully we can get a couple of wins together and get a roll on."
o FORBES MAGPIES 46 (Ben Robinson, Blake Baxter, Kevin Frank, Dave Ivehoe, Cameron Greenhalgh, Zac Merritt, Kye Merritt, Taz Spackman tries; Tim Ashcroft 7 goals) def DUBBO WESTSIDE 16 (Shannon Boney, Corey Ashby, Peter Boon tries; Steve Riley 2, Jade Hooper 1 goals)