Seven is heaven for Fishies as winning streak continues

The two clubs battled at Apex Oval on Sunday with the hosts coming away 18-16 victors in a match many described as a semi-final preview.

Both fighting to stay in the competition's top four, Dubbo CYMS coach Shawn Townsend said the Fishies are still yet to really hit their straps with the ball.

"We actually trained really well throughout the week," he said.

"It was a semi-final come early for us this week, it was a tough and gritty game. I thought we were pretty good.

"Our last 10 minutes was probably a little bit disappointing. Our kicking game sort of let us down in that period, we wanted to kick into the corners."

Trailing for most of the match, Orange CYMS captain-coach Jack Buchanan couldn't fault the way his side bounced back from some poor defeats.

"That's finals footy, we are sitting fourth (on the ladder) and they are sitting second," he said.

"We knew it was going to be tough, they are the defending champs for a reason and have found a bit of form late in the season."

It was the visitors who got things under way with Orange hooker Pat Williams diving over from dummy half to score.

Dubbo had plenty of strong sets but some poor fifth tackle options gave Orange somewhat of a reprieve.

However, Clynton Edwards continued his impressive season as he scored off a scrum for the defending premiers.

Leading 6-4 at the break, the home fans had something else to cheer about not long into the second half as Jeremy Thurston found winger Jack Allen on his inside to score.

Shortly after, Thurston beat several defenders to score a try of his own to extend the Fishies' lead.

But Orange CYMS' Daniel Mortimer started to work his magic and produced a clever kick of Kiyan Shaw to score in the corner.

Down 18-10, the visitors managed to score under the posts through Marcel Ikinofo with two minutes remaining.

Liam Wilson nailed the conversion to bring Orange within two points but the visitors would inevitably run out of time.

Now locked in a battle with Bathurst St Pat's and Bathurst Panthers for a top four spot, Buchanan said his side are showing a lot more promise than in previous weeks.

"We knew it was going to be tough but we had to get ourselves in the grind to be able to play some footy," he said.

"We've had some pretty average losses. Even though we lost today, it's a step in the right direction."