Dubbo CYMS stages second half fightback to defeat Parkes Spacemen
Daily Liberal - Nick Guthrie
CYMS halfback Alex Bonham feels his side is still some way off its best but the Fishies' form at the moment continues to prove good enough.
CYMS made it three from three this season at Caltex Park on Sunday, a strong second half effort leading the side to a 36-22 victory over the Parkes Spacemen.
The momentum swung back and for during the first half as both sides battled handling errors but the Spacemen led by four heading into the sheds.
But the visitors were kept scoreless in the second half as three tries to the Fishies sealed the result.
"A few errors hurt us but we spoke about it at half time, spoke about what we needed to fix up and we came out and did that," Bonham said.
"They didn't score in that second half so it was a big effort defensively and our attack, we turned it around big time.
"We just went back to simple football and went up the middle."
Jarryn Powyer was immense for CYMS in the front row and bagged a double in a standout performance while Lincoln Kavanagh, Kieran Cubby-Shipp, Wade Kavanagh and debutant winger Joeby Vetaukula also got across the stripe.
For Parkes, it was a familiar feeling.
During the first two rounds the Spacemen let opposition back into the match but were good enough to regain control and score victory.
But it wasn’t the case on Sunday as a 22-18 halftime lead went begging.
“Errors, dropped ball, penalties. We’ve got to fix that,” star fullback Sam Dwyer, who scored a first half double, said.
“We’ve been doing it the last few weeks and it’s the only thing doing damage to us at the moment.”
After Powyer opened the scoring with a powerful individual effort the Spacemen hit back through a jinking Chad Porter.
Dwyer’s double sandwiched a Lincoln Kavanagh four-pointer for CYMS and the first half action didn’t stop there.
Cubby-Shipp finished off a slick attacking move, started by a Powyer offload, while Alex Prout darted over from dummyhalf late on to ensure the visitor’s led at the break.
The second half took some time to get going but a Ben Marlin break on 55 minutes led to front row partner Powyer going over and then 12 minutes from time boom winger Vetaukula, one of four Fijian imports brought in this season, went over.
Wade Kavanagh’s individual effort four minutes from time sealed the result.
“We were a bit slow in pre-season and a couple weeks out we were starting to get there and now it's definitely showing,” Bonham said of his side’s improvement.
“But we'll keep working and we'll be right come the second half of the season.”
The halfback, who booted six from six conversions, was also full of praise for props Powyer and Marlin.
“They're always our go-forward men and play at 100 percent every week,” he said. “They get us going forward and that's all we need.”
Parkes’ loss was compounded by a suspected fractured leg for star winger Fletcher Strong right on half time.
The speedster was coming off a hat-trick performance against Macquarie a week earlier and was one of the main threats before his injury on Sunday.
Despite the injury blow and the disappointment of losing, Dwyer said the positive for his side was the fact it has won two from three this season without playing close to its best footy.
“We’ve definitely got the team to win the comp but it’s just those one percenters we really need to work on and get better at because it’s letting us down,” he said.
DUBBO CYMS 36 (Jarryn Powyer 2, Lincoln Kavanagh, Kieran Cubby-Shipp, Joeby Vetaukula, Wade Kavanagh tries; Alex Bonham 6 goals) defeated PARKES SPACMEN 22 (Sam Dwyer 2, Chad Porter, Alex Prout tries; Luke Clarke 3 goals)