When Will Oldham's 69th minute conversion from basically straight in front banged into the upright but deflected over the black dot at Anne Ashwood Park, Bathurst Bulldogs coach Dean Oxley knew it was going to be his side's day.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Oldham's conversion pushed Bulldogs ahead 16-15 with just 12 minutes to go in Saturday's Blowes Clothing Cup grand final rematch and from there the Bathurst side went on to score again and eventually win by six points, despite Orange Emus mounting pressure in the dying stages.
Naturally for Bulldogs the 21-15 win was one to savour as it reversed the result of last year's decider, but it also keeps them undefeated in 2019 and on top of the standings.
The defeat resigns the defending premiers, who have now suffered two consecutive defeats and dropped to third, to their worst start to a season since 2014.
Not that it's panic stations, Emus coach Pete Bromley said.
It is only a month into the season after all and, although he gave Bulldogs plenty of credit, he did concede his troops shot themselves in the foot again, as they did against Cowra the week before.
Emus' discipline once again left plenty to be desired and their execution in the clutch wasn't particularly good.
The biggest indication of that was with 10 minutes to go when, trailing 16-15, they opted against a straight-forward, go-ahead penalty goal to search for a try.
The lineout 10 out from Bulldogs' line fell apart though, the hosts winning back possession and scoring not long after.
"They are two good teams, there was always going to be that sort of battle, there's that good rivalry (and) we played well, we defended well," Bromley said.
"We knew we were always going to be in for a big tussle, it was a case that we had to turn up in defence, keep turning up in defence and turn them away. We did well in that first half, we knew the first sort of 20 minutes would set the tone. We kept turning them away and they had to take a few penalty goals. We got some good tries in the first half, we just couldn't finish it off."
The Bulldogs will take on the also-undefeated Cowra Eagles this Saturday afternoon at the Cowra Rugby Grounds, while the Emus will host cross-town rivals Orange City in a derby.
- BATHURST BULLDOGS 21 (Justin Mobbs, Harry Peacock tries; Will Oldham conversion, 3 penalty goals) def ORANGE EMUS 15 (Jamil Khalfan, Scott McLean tries; Nigel Staniforth conversion, penalty goal)
READ ALSO: