A Zac Williams masterclass led Dubbo College to a scrappy 20-8 win over Bathurst High in the Astley Cup rugby league match at Apex Oval on Friday extending their round one lead.
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Williams scored a try of his own and ran the show from five-eighth but coach Jarryn Powyer felt the platform for the halves to succeed was laid by the forwards.
"I think early on we looked to go around them a bit too much and the big boys were getting the job done in the middle so we just changed it up," he said.
"Credit to Jimmy [James Monaro], Aston [Warwick] and Longi [Longi] really leading up and Nate Lindsay is always a stand-out.
"They made it a lot easier for Ty [Tyrone Tattersall] and Zac to get the job done outside."
Dubbo came out of the gates looking to overpower the Bathurst side and Powyer felt his players had a long time to think about the match.
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"It was great to see Astley Cup back, we haven't had it in a while," he said.
"You could tell the boys were holding a bit of tension they couldn't get out last year and they brought it today which was really good to see.
"Both sides were competing at their very best."
Bathurst coach Phil Thurgood felt his side were overcome by the powerful forward pack.
"Conditions didn't sort of play into our hands," he said.
"The first half was wet and Dubbo big boys were winning the ruck battle.
"They were getting in tackles with numbers and we found it tough."
Thurgood said his side looked better at times in the second half but struggled to get out of their own end.
"Trying to look to get early kicks away and get it done their end," he said.
"I wasn't worried about our defence but we just needed to get the ball out of our half and we didn't do that too well."
Ronan Hunt-Cameron opened the scoring for Bathurst slipping through a tackle before evading the fullback to score but Aston Warwick hit back scoring a try of his own.
Tyrone Tattersall then showed some slick footwork to score under the posts giving the hosts a 10-4 lead at half-time.
Dubbo started the second half firing with Williams putting in a clever grubber for himself to score under the posts which Warwick converted.
The game changed moments later when Warwick was sent from the match due to a shoulder charge while a Bathurst player also spent 10 minutes on the sideline.
Hooker Jacob Wilson made the most of some lazy marker work scooting out of dummy half to extend score to 20-4.
Bathurst scored with a minute remaining before Williams successfully completed a short kick off but the siren blew with the game finishing 20-8.
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