Despite many of their players still recovering from last weekend’s Group 11 under- 18s grand final, Dubbo pulled together a tidy performance against the Sydney visitors, proving lethal with the ball and unbeatable in defence.

Captain Brodie Chapman opened the scoring after charging through the unorganised Cronulla defence to give his side the early lead.

In total, Dubbo scored eight tries, with Marc Field’s two after coming off the bench one of the features.

Hooker Jeremy ‘Squeak’ Smith was on his kicking game with five conversions while Josh Merritt booted one.

Dubbo dominated the first half and led 30-16 at the break but the margin could well have been much larger had it not been for three Cronulla tries late in the piece.

After coach Craig May had his say at the break, Dubbo came back hard in the second stanza, setting up speedy winger Allan Arnold in the corner to extend their lead and from then on the result was never in doubt.

May said it was a solid win from a side that was short of energy because of sickness and fatigue from the weekend’s game.

“It was a really hard fought win by a group of players who struggled for the most part but got the job done,” May said.

“The first half particularly was fairly scrappy and there were a lot of mistakes and penalties.

“Despite this we did well enough to lead 30-16 at halftime and got through the final session without any real dramas.

“There were some good signs for us leading into the semi-final against Sarah Redfern High with Dylan Hill making a successful return from a shoulder problem.

“He took the ball up and with good support from his fellow forwards set up a nice foundation for our halves Brad Spencer and Josh Merritt.”

An added bonus for Dubbo this year has been the emergence of Hill, Spencer and Merritt, all of whom represented Country Rugby League under- 16s.

Dubbo Senior College 46 (Marc Field 2, Brodie Chapman, Grant Kemp, Jeremy Smith, Brad Spencer, Jake Josephs, Alan Arnold tries, Jeremy Smith 5, Josh Merritt goals) def Cronulla High 16.