THE invincible aura surrounding the Bathurst Bulldogs received a shake up in the latest round of the Blowes Cup after the unbeaten competition leaders received a big scare.
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The Bulldogs fought their way past a spirited Orange City side at Pride Park to come away 31-27 winners and keep their win streak alive.
Cards of all colours were handed out to both clubs during an eventful clash at Orange.
Bulldogs had to fight back from a half-time deficit to get themselves the victory.
The visitors were able to score three tries during the third quarter of the match while they had a one-man advantage - with City's Wayne Miller and Darcy Holmes shown yellow.
Bulldogs then had to survive a late surge from the Lions when Brad Glasson and Riley Hanrahan landed red and yellow cards respectively.
Two tries inside the last 10 minutes from City weren't quite enough to get themselves the upset win.
It's a game that could leave the Bathurst squad depleted for their upcoming trip to Cowra, as Tom Felsch and Travis Gibson will need to be assessed after receiving blue cards.
Coach Dean Oxley said full-time couldn't come quick enough for his side.
"I was very happy to hear that final whistle," he said.
"Orange City are a team that's getting stronger. We were tested from the beginning to the end. We scored a couple of good tries but they disrupted our general play. Credit goes to them for that.
"We had a player in the bin at the time and we also had players off the field with blue and red cards."
An arena that's always tested the blue and gold
There's something in particular about Pride Park that finds a way to mess with the Bulldogs' rhythm.
Last year the Bulldogs scraped past the Lions 17-16 at the Orange ground towards the back end of the regular season.
"You never go there expecting an easy game," Oxley said.
"Last year we came from behind to win and this year we held on to win by four points in another slogfest.
"They have aspects of their game that are stronger than ours, and vice-versa, and it just comes down to who can control those areas the best.
"We were running with the wind in the second half and still couldn't maintain any field position. They had us under pressure for a lot of that second half."
It was a tough time across all grades for the Bulldogs.
Their women's side were held to a 12-all draw, seeing them give up rare points to a team other than defending champions Dubbo Kangaroos.
Bulldogs third grade were beaten while second grade were also left counting their wounded after a gruelling 38-19 win.
