Blowes Cup: Orange Emus defeat Bathurst Bulldogs in country rugby classic

Down 27-15 against undefeated reigning premiers Bathurst Bulldogs with less than 10 minutes to play, Emus were once again ruing a case of so close yet so far.

But an ingenious chip from hooker Harry Todd saw substitute Finley Morris soccer the ball on and into his arms, touching down in the corner before Josh Bass' sideline conversion attempt hit the post and went through.

The home side then marched up the pitch and got their rolling maul on before Todd popped out the back to crash over to give his side a chance at a famous win.

Bass duly obliged to send the Endeavour Oval crowd into raptures.

They had to survive an after the siren penalty goal attempt from Bulldogs scrumhalf Kurt Weekes but his kick sailed wide, cuing celebrations from the men in green.

Bass said he didn't overthink the two kicks despite what was on the line, a first ever win against Bathurst for the former Dubbo Kangaroo.

"I just treated them like any other goal kick," he said.

"I followed my normal process and tempo and they managed to go over thankfully.

"That was my first time ever beating the Bulldogs. They have been in the best team in the comp for the last two years.

"I know beating them will provide us with the confidence and belief to go all the way this year. I also know the Bulldogs will bounce back and be hungry to beat us next time we play them."

Despite sitting second Emus have had a mixed campaign with injuries slowing down last year's runners-up.

Bass, who was deputising for injured flyhalf and goal kicker Dan Jackson, said the result was validation for what the side had been telling themselves.

"We've spoken a lot at training over the last few weeks about trusting each other and never giving up," he said.

"I think that certainly showed in the second half. We had three yellow cards and our backs were against the wall.

"We stuck in there, we trusted our mates in defence and attack and the result ended up going our way."

Across town there was another upset win as Orange City defeated Dubbo Kangaroos 21-12.

With Cowra Eagles beating Forbes Platypi 38-12, the pressure was on City to hold onto their finals spot.

The Lions not only did that but managed to close the gap with the third-placed Roos to five points with four games remaining.

The match also featured a rare case of a burst ball on the half-hour mark, providing some brief levity in an otherwise intense affair.

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