Dubbo CYMS have put the pain of last year's grand final loss to Forbes behind them to win the 2023 Peter McDonald Premiership (PMP) by defeating a gutsy Mudgee Dragons 25-12 at Apex Oval on Sunday.
In their first premiership success since 2017, the CYMS' climb to the top of the PMP mountain was challenging.
In an absorbing 80-minute fixture, two physical packs engaged in a slog-fest typical of any good grand final.
Jarryn Powyer, Billy Sing, and Ben Marlin led the way for the Fishies.
Still, Mudgee matched motors with them for most parts, with bookends Cody Godden and Casey Burgess putting in significant time in the Dragons engine room.
Gifted good field position early, it didn't take long for Dubbo to strike, with clever half Jordi Madden taking the ball to the line before grubbering for his winger Ratu Roko.
The popular Fijian flyer had the crowd cheering in delight as he grounded the ball inside the left touchline and just millimetres before the dead-ball line.
Jeremy Thurston potted the difficult conversion attempt and CYMS led 6-0 after just five minutes.
Madden was pulling all the right strings in the first half. He set up Dubbo's second try when a barnstorming Jarryn Powyer charged through a gap from 25 metres out.
In a sight to be seen, the CYMS captain and front rower out-sprinted Mudgee's defence to the try line, going over untouched to the right of the posts. Thurston made no mistake with the kick and CYMS led 12-0 after 23 minutes.
The Dubbo outfit lost inspirational hooker Alex Bonham late in the first half.
Still, the Fishies battled on, and Thurston kicked a penalty for 14-0, which remained the half-time score.
Needing to score first in the second half, Mudgee responded quickly, with Jack Littlejohn putting up a well-placed kick from 15 metres out.
Dubbo teammates Jeremy Thurston and Jyie Chapman both went for the ball, which led to a mistake and there to pounce on the Steeden and score the try was Mugdee centre David West.
Trailing 14-4 the Dragons at last had a sniff, but the CYMS class prevailed in a telling five-minute period.
Again, it was Madden in the thick of the action, and playing to his left, he delivered an inch-perfect pass to Thomas Hughes, who cut back inside and beat two players to score to the left of the posts. Thurston was on target again, and Dubbo led 20-4.
Minutes later, Thurston scored the try of the match.
Scooting from acting-half, the fullback went 70 metres fending and twisting his way to an entertaining try inside the left touchline.
Mudgee scored the next two tries, with Pacey Stockton putting Jack Durrant over to the left of the posts before a Hayden Carpenter kick was caught and grounded by Joshwa Wilson-Tuckey inside the right touchline.
Both tries went unconverted and Mudgee trailed 24-12.
With two minutes left on the clock, Thurston put the exclamation mark on the result, slotting a field goal to round out the 25-12 victory.
Powyer was a deserved winner of the Scott-Weir Medal as best-on-ground in the grand final.
In a massive day of football in Dubbo, Bathurst St Pat's won the Blues Tag Grand Final when scoring a dominant 32-8 victory over Dubbo Macquarie Raiders.
Speedster Erin Naden scored a hat-trick of tries for Player of the Match.
