With the game in the balance at halftime, the hosts put their foot down in the second 40 minutes to take a 36-14 victory.

Dubbo CYMS halfback Jordi Madden thought his side should've led at halftime but was pleased with how they applied themselves late in the game.

"We were pretty scrappy in the first half, to be honest," he said.

"We didn't have much success going into the break, I think it was 10-all but to come out in the second half and score 20-odd points during the 15 minutes of rain was pleasing.

"The second half was probably one of our best halves of footy."

Orange CYMS five-eighth Joe Lasafavibau pinpointed one key moment he believes hurt his team as Dubbo scored right on halftime.

"The first half was good, we completed our sets really well," he said

"The try before halftime killed us, I think we were in it for the whole first half but come second half all our talk we just left it in the sheds."

Without Daniel Mortimer, Orange CYMS ran out led by Lasagavibau but it was their opposition who got off to the better start.

Just nine minutes into the game Dubbo CYMS back-rower Billy Sing barged his way over to score the first try of the game and it started what would be a dominant period for his side.

Madden followed Sing's efforts with a 40/20 kick as the hosts attacked the Orange CYMS defence from all angles but they couldn't find a way over.

Orange had three line dropouts in a row at one point but managed to hold on and they soon turned their defence into attack.

Winger Jordan Clark crossed in the 25th minute to level the score at 4-all and soon his side was on the board again, this time through Ethan McKellar.

Patrick Williams converted McKeller's try just before half time but the hosts had one more attacking set in them.

A clever short ball from Alex Bonham saw Brydon Ramien carry three defenders over the line to score.

Fullback Brad Pickering nailed the conversion after the siren as both sides went into the sheds with the score 10-all.

Rain began to fall heavily on Apex Oval but it didn't phase the home side who were back in the lead soon after the break.

Jeremy Thurston strolled over in the right corner before Jayden Merritt grabbed a try of his own as Dubbo CYMS pushed the score out to 20-10 just seven minutes into the second half.

As the rain got heavier, Dubbo got better and Jyie Chapman scored a well-deserved try of his own before grabbing a second 10 minutes later.

Ramien's second try of the match sealed the win for the hosts but the visitors picked up a late try through Clark once again.

Following the winger's try, Dubbo played out the first two tackles before full time was blown, handing them a solid win and advancing them through to a home preliminary final.

It wasn't all Dubbo CYMS' way and the week off may do them some good after several players left the field with injuries but Madden is confident a similar side should be able to run out in a fortnight's time.

"A couple of the boys went down with injuries," he said.

"Tommy Stimpson popped his shoulder out, Tom Hughes hurt his hamstring.

"The week off will definitely help and hopefully everyone is good to go in two weeks."

After just his first final in the top grade, Madden made it no secret what Dubbo CYMS are hoping to do this season but admitted they aren't getting too carried away just yet.

"The goal is to win the comp but we'll take it to step by step," he said.

"Hopefully we can get there in the end and win it."

In a losing side, Orange fullback Nick Murphy was outstanding and his five-eighth believes the whole team deserves praise for the defence in a 20-minute period where they barely had the ball.

"We came in at halftime and praised our efforts on our defence," he said.

"They just attacked and attacked but we held them out.

"It was just that last try before halftime."

Looking ahead, Orange CYMS will host Parkes who advanced after a single-point win on Saturday and Lasagavibau knows they will need to improve if they are to stay in the competition.

"We will have another crack next week, I think we've got Parkes at home," he said.

"We need to fix up a lot of things.

"Just our second half, I think we've only been playing for 40 minutes but next week we need to play for the full 80 (minutes)."

DUBBO CYMS 34 (Jyie Chapman 2, Brydon Ramien 2, Billy Sing, Jayden Merritt, Jeremy Thurston tries; Brad Pickering 4 conversions) defeated ORANGE CYMS (Jordan Clark 2, Ethan McKellar tries; Patrick Williams conversion)