In one of the more gutsy performances of the season, the Eagles maintained top spot on the Blowes Clothing Cup ladder by downing the Dubbo Kangaroos 16-13 in a bruising and dramatic contest at No. 1 Oval.

The Eagles spent most of the second half a man down after Navitalai Bola was shown a red card in the 49^th minute for a dangerous spear tackle on Roos fullback Calub Cook.

The Eagles were down 8-7 at that moment but two penalties from Ryan in the space of nine minutes put his side back in control and seemingly on the way to victory.

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But there was still plenty to play out in the final five minutes.

With the minutes ticking down and the Eagles in control the Roos needed something special and it came courtesy of a neat short lineout play that led to hooker Andy Leatham barging his way over in the corner.

Cook had the chance to put his side in front with a sideline conversion but it was waved away and the scores remained at 13-all.

The Eagles had won last chance in the final two minutes and after their powerful forward pack won them another penalty at the breakdown, Central West representative Ryan stepped up to slot the all-important penalty attempt from close to 40m out to secure victory.

"That's really good," Cowra captain and former Roo Tim Berry said.

"That first half we did a lot of defence so to come out in the second half, lose a guy, but still grind away and make enough metres shows the heart and passion inside the club at the moment."

The feeling at full-time for the Roos was a similar one this season.

The hosts scored two tries to one on Saturday but it wasn't enough and it marked the third successive game the side has lost a match but seven or less points.

"The disappointing thing is we're creating the opportunities but lacking that little bit of polish at the moment," Roos captain Tom Koerstz said.

"The one exciting thing is we are creating those opportunities. We're getting the ball in the right spots and we've got the game plan and cattle to win those games but it's just about getting over the hump.

"As soon as we get that win we'll be firing."

That quality the Roos have shown at times this season is something Cowra was all too aware of when they made the trip to No. 1 Oval.

"We knew coming up here to Dubbo would be tough," Berry, who suffered a nasty head clash late in the match, added.

"They've been thereabouts and they've lost games by just a couple of points. They've had one of those seasons that could have gone either way.

"We knew coming up here would be one of the hardest games of our season and to grind it out like that is pretty satisfying."

Koerstz could only praise Cowra for their performance, particularly in the first half when they were required to do a mountain of defending.

"We created a lot of opportunities and controlled possession in the first half but credit to Cowra because their defensive performance was something to behold. They were immense," he said.

"That's obviously why they're the top side and the benchmark at the moment. The way they absorbed pressure in the first half and then found a way to win in the second half was pretty special."

As pleased as he was with the win and three-point lead at the top of the ladder, Berry insisted his side can still get better.

The first half will be one area of focus moving forward, with only some desperate defence stopping the Roos turning plenty of possession into a lead.

Cowra returns home for what should be a top battle against the Orange Emus next weekend while the Roos face a crucial trip to Forbes.

The Platypi faded late and lost to the Bathurst Bulldogs after a strong showing on Saturday and remain fifth on the ladder, just seven points behind the fourth-placed Roos.