Dubbo CYMS under 18s coach Bret Fisher has praised his young side for holding off a game Parkes outfit in the second round of the Western Youth League.
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"It was absolutely typical wet weather footy, it was scrappy and completing our sets was a challenge, but I was really impressed with the boys today," Fisher said.
CYMS bounced back from a first round loss to the Forbes Magpies at Apex Oval, with the scorecards 10 - 0 at full time on Sunday.
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"We did well, particularly defence wise, we were down a man for ten minutes and we still managed to hold them off," Fisher said.
Sterling defence from both sides turned the first half of the game into a grueling back and forth battle, with the wet weather conditions contributing to penalties and possession changes throughout the first two quarters.
Nervous tension and a want to score led to a scuffle and CYMS' Brett Carr was binned for ten minutes, only to be joined shortly after by Parkes' Jaimie Thorp for a head-high shot.
While the Dubbo defence was able to hold up with a man down, a Beau McIntosh flick-pass to Will Malloy split Parkes' defenders on the left flank and allowed him to crash over for the first points of the game with three minutes to go before half-time.
There were a few scares for both sides throughout the second half, with Parkes coach Sam Dwyer giving his side credit for coping well on the back foot in the wet weather.
"We just had a little bit missing in attack, we were a bit clunky and we weren't giving ourselves as many opportunities as we needed to when we were in a good ball area," Dwyer said.
"We made a few mistakes here and there and we paid the price for it."
Parkes attempted a late fight-back, but a momentum swing provided CYMS with all the opportunity they needed and Noah Ryan slipped around on the left flank to plant a try in the corner with just five seconds to go.
A successful conversion later and Dubbo left Apex Oval as the victors over a dejected Parkes.
While Fisher was glad to take the win, he still saw room for improvement in the inexperienced team.
"We're putting pressure on ourselves, thinking we have to score every time we've got our hands on the ball, there's not a lot of maturity in this side, some of them are only 16, there's only three kids in this side still around from last year," Fisher said.
Fisher also credited his side for keeping up the pace in both halves, an area where Parkes' Dwyer felt his side lacked late.
"We've got a couple of things to work on there in attack, but I was happy with the defence," Dwyer said.
"Late in the halves, that was when they got their points, you end up with a few tired men and they made us pay for it, so there's a little bit to work on there."
Elsewhere, the Macquarie Raiders backed up their first round draw with Parkes, delivering a 28 - 4 victory over the Cowra Magpies.
Macquarie and CYMS will meet in a cross-town derby this coming Saturday.
CYMS 10 (Will Malloy, Noah Ryan tries, Ryan 1 goal) DEF. PARKES 0