Dubbo CYMS is racking up huge scores, but for Fishies coach Tim Ryan it’s all about small steps.
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The Group 11 leaders were scintillating in attack and immense in defence at Apex Oval on Saturday in what was an incredibly lopsided derby clash with Macquarie.
A try in the second minute of the match and then, amazingly, nine seconds into the second half set the tone for each stanza and the Raiders never had a response.
While not getting too carried away, Ryan was pleased to see his side respond to aspects such as starting the match and completions after it being his focus in recent weeks.
But he was adamant there’s still more to do.
“Our attitude was good right from the start … it was good to get a win like that,” he said.
“I don’t think it was (our best performance of the season), our discipline was a bit off but our start was the best start we’ve had and our first 20 minutes was really good.”
CYMS’ opening to the game was electric.
Jesse Wighton gave yet another example of his speed when streaking down the left edge to open the scoring after two minutes and while the Fishies lost back-rower Jordan Reynolds to a serious ankle injury and Lincoln Kavanagh to the sin-bin for swearing shortly after, it did little to slow their momentum.
CYMS scored again on 15 minutes when Wade Kavanagh scurried through from dummyhalf before a fantastic Corey Cox break and run put Bayden Searle under the posts.
It was 24-0 after 24 minutes when Jyie Chapman scooped up a Raiders grubber on his own line and bounced off tackles before putting Brad Pickering over.
The Raiders hit back against the run of play when Chapman spilt a Kurt Fuller cross-field kick and allowed Bobby Jo Gordon the simplest of finishes.
The Raiders had the better of the chances from there they couldn’t score before the break, Ash Widders dropping the ball in-goal in a golden chance in the final few seconds.
Much of the crowd wasn’t back in its seats before CYMS scored in the second half.
Pickering kicked-off and the ball fell short of the Raiders and Wade Kavanagh, who was flying through in chase, got a friendly bounce and collected it, offloaded to Shaquille Gordon and he scored less than 10 seconds after referee Willy Barnes had re-started the match.
“To start the first and second half we were too flat,” Raiders coach Dylan Hill said.
“Coming out of the sheds both times they out-enthused us so we need to change that and we need to work on dominating that ruck a bit more.”
From that point on it was virtually one-way traffic.
CYMS scored three tries in the next 10 minutes and then the try of the day put them past the 50 point mark.
Barnstorming prop Nick Harvey, one of his side’s best in the opening weeks of the season, made a break from within his own half and after offloading to Corey Drew on halfway he re-collected the ball, found Wighton on his outside and the flying centre did the rest.
Pickering, a standout again, kept his perfect strike-rate with the boot going by converting from the sideline.
Gordon grabbed his second when going through some soft defence on 65 minutes and while there was some push and shove in the final 15 minutes the only points came with two minutes to go when Widders grabbed a consolation for his side.
“There’s always something to work on,” Ryan said, referring to the discipline after Alex Ronayne was also sin-binned in the win.
“But there was long periods where they set up camp down our end and we defended well, the attitude was there and the slide was there.”
Pickering finished with 28 points of his own, scoring twice and booting a perfect 10 from 10 goals.
After the loss, Hill confessed he may need to look at the way he’s setting his side up but with no Jai Merritt and Chris Daley there was no doubt the side lacked some creative spark and a quality kicking game.
“Maybe we need to change the structure. We didn’t get to show our structure much today so there’s questions on me and then it’s up to the boys buying into it again,” he said.
“It’s challenging but full credit to CYMS, they were the better team.”
Recent derby history is not pretty reading for Raiders fans, with the blue part of the city having celebrated just one win over CYMS since downing the Fishies in the 2012 grand final.
- DUBBO CYMS 60 (Jesse Wighton 2, Brad Pickering 2, Shaquille Gordon 2, Wade Kavanagh 2, Bayden Searle, John Grey tries; Pickering 10 goals) defeated DUBBO MACQUARIE 10 (Bobby Jo Gordon, Ash Widders tries; Kurt Fuller goal)
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
