COMING from 10 points down to hand the Parkes Boars their first loss of the New Holland Cup season - it's an effort CSU coach Dave Conyers has labelled a "massive plus" for his side.
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CSU ran in the last 17 points of Saturday's match at University Oval to post a 28-21 win which was more about a physiological boost than ladder positioning.
While Parkes had already locked in the minor premiership and CSU had cemented second, Conyers was desperate for his men to have a win over the Boars before the finals series.
Not only did they get that win, but that they came from behind against a quality opposition made it a result Conyers relished.
"To score 17 unanswered points to come back and win, to come back like we did last week [round] against Rhinos, it was fantastic," he said.
"That's great for our confidence, we know we can beat them now, we can come from behind and beat them. That's a massive plus for our mental psyche."
It was CSU who opened scoring via a penalty goal, flyhalf Ethan Cusick then crossing for the opening try to give his side an 8-0 lead.
Parkes responded with a try from prop Jason Lowe which Luke Bevan converted, then Cusick slotted a second penalty from around 40 metres out.
With just over a quarter of the game gone Parkes hit the lead for the first time. They strung together a number of phases up the middle before spreading the ball left to barnstorming centre Vereti Tupou.
He sliced through CSU's defence and ran away to score, Bevan adding the extras to make it 14-11.
That's how the two sides went to the break and when play resumed, it was Parkes on the attack.
The Boars won the ball back after kicking off, won a penalty to get inside CSU's 22 then two line-outs and a scrum later created an overlap on the right edge that Josh van der Stok capitalised on.
Bevan once again converted to make it 21-11.
Both van der Stok and then CSU's Sam Chamberlain spent time on the sideline after being shown yellow cards, but it was a penalty for a late tackle which saw CSU begin its come back.
It gave CSU a line-out five metres out from Parkes' line and shortly after - even though there was a nervous juggle - prop Marcus Burrell went over in the right corner.
Cusick nailed the sideline conversion, the playmaker then producing an individual effort with a line-break and 35-metre run to hand CSU the lead.
The final minutes were pressure filled - Parkes repelled CSU for 14 phases on their line at one stage - but the hosts had one last play to seal the win. After five scrum resets and six pick and drives, Burrell went over for his second to make it 28-21.
In the women's Westfund North Cup, CSU scored at more than a point a minute in the first half, in the second half they had to muscle up and defend and at full-time CSU emerged with an 11th straight win in the North Cup after beating Parkes 50-7.
Though the wet, cold and muddy conditions at University Oval, combined with sustained periods of pressure from Parkes, meant it was not CSU's slickest performance of the season, the win moved them 25 points clear on top of the ladder.
New Holland Cup first grade
CSU MITCHELL 28 (Cusick, Burrell 2 tries; Cusick 3 goals) defeated PARKES BOARS 21 (Lowe, Tupou, van der Stok tries; Luke Bevan 3 goals)
Westfund North Cup
CSU MITCHELL 50 (Reilly 3, Baker, Doyle, Downing, Major, Windsor tries; Reilly 5 goals) defeated PARKES BOARS 7 (Stevenson try; Westcott goal)
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