IT’S taken more than two years, but the Dubbo Kangaroos have finally been beaten in Central West Rugby Union, going down 10-9 to Forbes at Forbes on Saturday.

Back in April 2006 the ’Roos lost to Dubbo Rhinos and then later in the season had a draw before dominating and taking the Blowes Menswear Cup premiership.

Then they went through 2007 unbeaten and made it two Central West titles in succession.

Finally it happened on Saturday at Forbes, the Dubbo outfit lost, but ’Roos coach Wayne Stewart said the focus remains on winning a third grand final on September 6.

“Our first loss for such a long time will be the talk of the town for a week, but really we haven’t lost sight of what is ahead of us,” Stewart said.

“There hasn’t been any talk about getting beaten at any time but the coaches and players look at each week and play accordingly.

“We want to get our structure right to get us into the semi-finals, then we will continue to take finals football on its merits.

“For some of the senior players who have been around those past couple of years, the loss will be remembered, but as I said, nothing has changed.”

After being down 10-0 early the ’Roos trailed 10-6 at half time following two penalty goals from former CSU skipper Tim Berry.

Then with eight minutes left on the clock, number 8 Dean Matthews surprised even himself with a 42 metres field goal to set the game up for a thrilling finish.

But try as they might have, the ’Roos couldn’t bridge the gap and celebrations were in order for the home side.

Solid defence won the match for Forbes and while Dubbo’s attacking weapon Will Leader was again one of their best, they couldn’t crack the rock hard Platypi effort in defence.

“There were positives for us as I was happy that we dominated the scrums, despite being without props Brian Swords and Ray White,” Stewart said.

“However, we didn’t click in the line-outs and that cost us possession.

“Certainly we had our opportunities to win and even in the latter stages our go forward was interrupted when the ball didn’t go to hand or in possession we gave away penalties.”

FORBES 10 (Ashley Acheson try; Troy Howe conversion; Troy Howe penalty goal) defeated DUBBO KANGAROOS 9 (Tim Berry 2 penalty goals; Dean Matthews drop goal).