BATHURST Bulldogs might have got the points, but Saturday's 31-10 Blowes Cup win over Orange City could have come at a huge cost in the form of Brad Glasson.
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The 2018 Blowes Cup player of the year and star halfback was injured during the battle at Pride Park.
"I think we lost (Brad) for the season," Bulldogs coach Dean Oxley said after the match.
"It wasn't for any particular reason, just in a tackle, but that happens when you're playing week in, week out physical football."
So while the bonus point victory pushes the Bathurst side to within two of the ladder-leading Cowra Eagles, it's now fingers crossed for Glasson who has been in excellent form for the Bulldogs.
With Bulldogs fullback Joseph Nash scoring the contest's lone try in the first half, the game was well and truly up for grabs in the second 40, something Oxley was all too aware of.
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"I thought this was a real danger game for us because City have been knocking at the door and they're due to knock somebody off," he said.
"They've been playing really strong football. We thought today up here was a danger match."
And just five minutes into the second half, it appeared as though an upset could be on the cards.
City's Henry Bouffler ran back an intercept from inside his own half to cut the deficit to two.
Ten minutes later and the Bulldogs were on the board again, thanks to a barging run by Adam Plummer. A successful conversion by Kurt Weekes made it a two-score game.
City weren't about to die wondering though, as Lions captain Kieran Bonin scooted over from close range to make it a 14-10 game.
That was as close as the home side would get though, as the Bulldogs rattled off 17 unanswered points to end the match.
City coach John Nunn said that while he was disappointed with the result, he was not unhappy with the effort by his side.
"I think our fitness is there and the conditions suited us today and up until the 65th minute we were in it," he said.
"We had some injuries, made some changes and we were on the back foot from there. To Bathurst's credit, they capitalised on the ruck and when we didn't man up in it, they pushed us off the ball and consolidated that.
"Kieran, our captain, led us around the park pretty well today. He said some good things and he's a very calm leader. Nathan Ahkee probably had the best game he's had all year as well."
In a match that produced many an injury to both sides, it was the weather which proved the biggest difference maker.
"There was always going to be fatigue," Oxley added.
"When it's physical it's about who can stand up at the end. We had one player that I believe had hypothermia, so we had to take them off the field and get him warm. He was disorientated and the climate proved really challenging."
BATHURST BULLDOGS 31 (Joseph Nash, Adam Plummer, Thomas Felsch, Haydn Christie-Johnston, Peter Fitzsimmons tries; Kurt Weekes 3 conversions) defeated ORANGE CITY 10 (Henry Bouffler, Kieran Bonin tries)
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