Dubbo Rhinos coach Doug Sandry was upset with his side's discipline on Saturday but he couldn't have been more proud of the guts and determination shown at Narromine.
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Four different Rhinos players were yellow carded at Cale Oval while another received a red card but when the final whistle sounded it was Sandry's men celebrating a 23-21 victory over a youthful and new-look Gorillas side.
While extremely frustrated with a number of decisions made by referee Chris Reynolds, Sandry had no defence for a host of poor mistakes made by his side.
"Escaped is a word you could use," Sandry said of his side's win.
"I'm really disappointed with our side's discipline and there was way too many cards and players spending time off the field.
"We spent 55 minutes with 13 or 14 players on the field and you're not going to win a competition with that."
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Kaiden Hill, Mitch Harvey, Amini Rokaci and Kieran Hill all spent time in the sin-bin for separate incidents in the opening 40 minutes and during the break Reynolds made it clear any more mistakes from the Rhinos would result in a send-off.
Just 10 minutes into the second stanza he backed up his words and gave Tyrone Fleming his marching orders for an illegal tackle.
The Rhinos led 16-14 when Fleming was sent off and while Henry Buttsworth scored to put the Gorillas back in front just minutes later, the visitors stayed composed and were brave in defence.
The Gorillas - who had Hamish Job yellow carded as well in the second half - struggled to put together any meaningful attacking rugby late on and inside the final 10 minutes Rhinos flanker Joe Raikabula went on a barnstorming run and scored next to the posts before Kaiden Hill's conversion proved to be the final points of the day.
"We pinched it late and we'll take that win but there's a lot of work to do," Sandry said.
"But I am really proud of how we stuck it out. Even in the first half when we had two cards we were in front until they scored just before one came back on.
"There was some outstanding defensive performances today."
The result leaves the Rhinos in a strong position heading into the bye next weekend. The Dubbo side has three wins from the opening for rounds while Saturday's result leaves the Gorillas at the foot of the ladder.
The match was only the second of the season for Narromine after a round two bye and a cancellation of their round three meeting with Parkes due to a waterlogged ground.
I don't think we can be too hard on ourselves after competing against a side that's playing some good footy.
- Narromine's Tim Allworth
As disappointing as it was not to be able to take full advantage of the numerical advantages throughout the match, Gorillas No. 8 and club president Tim Allworth was relatively upbeat post-game given the lack of match-time and sheer number of changes to his side this year.
"It is disappointing, particularly in our first game at home," Allworth said.
"But I think what shows is this is just our second game for this season and we were starting again against a side that has had a few minutes together and that probably showed in the final 15 minutes.
"I've got plenty of confidence in our ability. We went through our team sheets and I think the average age of the two sides was about 21. So it's basically colts playing against a lot of seasoned footballers.
"It's only the second game in so I don't think we can be too hard on ourselves after competing against a side that's playing some good footy."
The Rhinos started the better in front of fantastic Ladies Day crowd at Cale Oval and scored the opening try in the fourth minutes after a jinking effort from scrumhalf Apasai Lonani.
The Gorillas' forwards soon got into the game and on 10 minutes Jack Madgwick planted the ball down after a strong rolling maul.
Buttsworth's boot levelled it up at 7-all and then in the space of two minutes Kaiden Hill and Harvey were both yellow-carded for an illegal tackle and deliberate knock-on respectively.
Despite that, the Rhinos scored the next points via a Kieran Hill penalty.
Some desperate defence followed but the Gorillas eventually made their extra men count via slick shift from left to right the resulted in a try for winger Justin Bennett.
There was still plenty of action to come before half-time, as a Rhinos penalty was sandwiched by the yellow cards for Rokaci and Kieran Hill.
The Gorillas led 14-13 at the break but the Rhinos put their nose in front again five minutes after the restart via a Kaiden Hill penalty.
Fleming was then shown a red card and while the Gorillas faithful were desperate for a win, Raikabula's effort ensured a third victory of the season for the Rhinos.
Despite being one the players who spent time on the sideline, Kieran Hill received plenty of praise from Sandry for his efforts in defence while the same went for Nacewa Nalagi, Lachie O'Malley and Dasun Samarakoon.
- DUBBO RHINOS 23 (Apasai Lonani, Joe Raikabula tries; Kaiden Hill 2 conversions; Kaiden Hill 2, Kieran Hill penalties) defeated NARROMINE GORILLAS 21 (Jack Madgwick, Justin Bennett, Henry Buttsworth tries; Buttsworth 3 conversions)
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