A SOLID defensive effort ensured Orange City claimed another Blowes Clothing Cup bonus-point victory on Saturday.

The Lions conceded just one try as they toppled a determined CSU Bathurst 38-7 at Pride Park.

Not surprisingly, defence was a highlight of the game for Lions co-coach Mick Gray.

"We only let in one try today and that was by an intercept. We didn't let in anything in last week (against Narromine), so our defence over the last two weeks has been really good. We're pleased with that," Gray smiled.

It was a scrappy opening 15 minutes, with both sides showing glimpses of what was to come, while also suffering at the hands of a greasy track.

At the 20-minute mark the Lions seemed to click into gear and fullback Sam Coote made a great run down the left line.

From there the ball was spread right to inside-centre Mesui Lemoto who sprinted around the defence and ran it in under the posts.

He kicked the extras for City to lead 7-0 but this became 12-0 minutes later when flanker Mitch Pearce burrowed his way over to score.

Late in the opening stanza winger Sione "Mo" Amone showed his speed and strength to finish off two tries, and Lemoto converted both for the Lions to be up 26-0 at the break.

The hosts continued their momentum early in the second half with flanker Duncan Young scoring after repeat phases for the Lions to push the lead out to 31-0.

From here the match became an arm-wrestle with neither side able to break the deadlock until CSU fly-half Cam Backhouse latched onto an Orange City pass with 11 minutes left in the game.

The Lions were dominating possession in the CSU half and looked to be building towards scoring more points when Backhouse grabbed a City pass and ran 80 metres to score under the posts.

He subbed himself off immediately as Pat Hill kicked the extras for the students.

VIDEO: What the coaches had to say after full time:

The struggle continued for both sides until Lions replacement Ben Swadling scored his first top grade try, and Lemoto's conversion locked up the 31-point win.

"That was a good game for us. We did what we wanted to do," Gray said.

"Our first half was probably better than our second, but sometimes you put the bench on and you lose a bit of continuity. But it was good. It was a good result for us.

"I thought Sam Coote went really well, Chris Senior had a great game, Duncan Young was consistent. There was no one who didn't go well for us."

CSU may have lost but coach James McLaren couldn't fault the effort of his players.

"They could have just turned the heat off at half-time, 26 points down and getting away, but they really stuck to it," McLaren said.

"Orange City are a good side and they're big and talented across the park, so we were always going to be up against it but when you see that effort it's why you rock up Tuesday and Thursday."

The competition will have a general by next weekend for the June long weekend but there will be no rest for the Orange City boys as they prepare for matches against Bathurst Bulldogs and Orange Emus.

"We've been trying to get our fitness base back up to where it was when we won the two comps undefeated. We've been working pretty hard. So that's what we'll be doing this week," Gray explained.

"We'll be working hard and building to that Bulldogs game and then the Emus after that."

ORANGE CITY LIONS 38 (Sione Amone 2, Mesui Lemoto, Mitch Pearce, Duncan Young, Ben Swadling tries; Mesui Lemoto 4 conv) def CSU BATHURST 7 (Cam Backhouse try; Pat Hill conv).