Dubbo CYMS' Western Youth League side is taking coach Bret Fisher on one hell of a ride this year.
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The young Fishies have produced a bit of everything so far this season but on Sunday they took things to a whole new level.
CYMS was electric in the first half against Wellington, running in five tries to one at Apex Oval and producing some scintillating attacking footy along the way.
But in the second half the game plan went out the window and if a Wellington Cowboys side in any age group is given a little bit of ball then the points generally start flowing.
It was the Cowboys who turned on the style in the second stanza and came storming back into the match, only for CYMS to hang on and score a nail-biting 32-28 win.
Fisher might joke his side is taking years off his life this season, but he knows there's always plenty to deal with when coaching a juniors side.
"The first half was beautiful," he said.
"It was nearly perfect football with only two errors and one penalty but the second half was eight errors and four penalties so it was rocks and diamonds.
"But it's just young kids and the mentality was they were flying and they took their minds off the job."
Cowboys coach Graham Blackhall also spoke about mentality and attitude post-game.
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As good as CYMS was in the first half, the Cowboys never helped themselves with a host of errors being made.
But with the likes of Rylee Blackhall, Elijah Colliss and Cooper Taylor starting to get more involved in the second half things soon improved.
"I give CYMS credit because they came out with a good attitude and our boys were still asleep a bit but it was a good game of footy," Blackhall said.
"It came back to mindset and [at half-time] was talking about getting the guys to focus on what they do and what they work on. Don't go in and play with those emotions, take that away, and it was good.
"It's building the individual character and once you get that the attitude comes along with it."
There was a lot to like about the Fishies' attitude and desire early on at Apex Oval on Sunday.
In just the second minute the Cowboys spilled the ball in their own half and CYMS centre Zac Williams was able to kick the ball ahead and then win the race to the in-goal to open the scoring.
The Cowboys then gave away a penalty in the first set from the restart and a slick shift to the left from CYMS soon after resulted in Will Malloy crossing to make it 10-0.
Harrison Freeman was next to go in for CYMS while right on the 15-minute quarter-time mark Malloy kicked for himself along the wing, poked it on again towards the tryline and dived on it to make it 20-0 and set off wild celebrations among the Fishies players and fans.
It seemed the Cowboys were getting back into the game when prop Keenan South-Hill barged his way over from close range in the second quarter but a stepping and jinking Braye Porter soon muscled muscled his way for CYMS and Noah Ryan's conversion made it 26-6 at the main break.
"All I spoke to them about at half-time was to come out, complete our sets, forget about the points, and get ready for the games coming up," Fisher said.
Unfortunately for the coach, that barely happened in the second stanza.
The sides traded tries inside the third quarter and CYMS was firmly in control at 32-12 but there was a sense around the ground the Cowboys were getting better the more the game went on.
And in the final quarter they burst into life, with a second try for Taylor and further four-pointers for David West and Seaun Stanley getting the margin back to just four.
CYMS had to survive a nervy final minute but they hung on to get the job done and move within one point of Wellington and two points of leaders Macquarie in what is a close-fought northern pool.
"The better sides don't go away and to Wellington's credit they didn't go away," Fisher added.
"There was eight errors and four penalties in 30 minutes of football and to lead 26-6 at half-time and nearly get run down, it's the errors that proved the problem."
CYMS meets Macquarie in another blockbuster derby next weekend while Wellington will look to bounce back against Mudgee.