The Fishies’ under 18s always looked in the driver’s seat in their elimination semi-final clash with Dubbo rivals Macquarie after storming to an early 18-0 lead.

The Raiders’ fought back momentarily in the second stanza thanks to a slashing double from the impressive Brodie Ford in the centres, but the CYMS boys wrestled back the momentum thereafter to secure a spot in next week’s minor semi-final with a 26-8 victory over Macquarie.

Burton laid on two of his side’s five four-pointers and nailed three conversions in gusty conditions in Forbes.

And while Clarke and Carter provided the muscle through the middle, the work of Haycock brothers Sullivan and Paddy was also instrumental in the week one finals victory.

“Both the Haycock boys do a terrific job there with their rotation and I thought James Carter was great for us through the middle, and that makes it easier for guys like Burto to do his job,” CYMS coach Bernard Wilson said.

CYMS finished the regular season in fourth, but if Wilson’s boys continue to rattle through the middle and apply enough polish at the end of their sets, like they did in tough conditions at Spooner Oval, there’s nothing to say the Fishies juniors won’t be there on grand final day.

“I feel like we are building. I would have liked to have been better today but we’ll be better next week, “Wilson added.

“The first half definitely helped our cause. We came out in the second half and dropped a lot of ball and made it hard for ourselves but the conditions were terrible.

“We’ve just got to learn to complete and that’ll make it easier.”

CYMS raced out of the blocks thanks to tries to Aiden Lake, Tom Stimpson and James Carter to lead by three converted tries at the break.

Macquarie managed to get the margin back to 10 points mid-way through the second half but further CYMS tries to Zarrin Galea and then Tobias Dries were enough to put an end to the Raiders’ premiership defence in the under 18s.

Macquarie mentor Tony Wilson said, to be fair, only three players from last year’s premiership winning side were still eligible to play in this year’s under 18s competition.

“We’ve had a positive season. It’s always good to make the semi-finals,” Wilson said, his side battling injury at the back-end of the season.

“We’re a young team and we’ve had a good year as far as their development is concerned.

“We weren’t meeting them at the advantage line defensively, and we spoke about that at half-time, but the boys have tried their best, and that’s all I can ask.”

The match was ended about a minute early due to injury, with Raiders’ forward Lachlan Hutchison staying down late before an Ambulance was called as a precaution.

Wilson predicted Forbes, minor premiers, to go on to win the under 18s crown.