Down 20-6 not long into the second half Workies soon made it 20-16 on the back of some good work through the hands and caught Mudgee napping.

However with six minutes remaining Dragons lock Casey Burgess made a blindside run close to the line and crossed for his second.

It was a day out for the Burgess family as Chanse Burgess also crossed for two tries in the 26-16 win.

Mudgee coach Andy Stott said his side dug deep without five regular players.

“Yeah it was a bit scary at the end there but we showed a bit of character and grinded it out,” he said.

Going into the game Stott said he knew Lithgow would be up for a close encounter.

“They gave us a good game down there a couple of weeks ago and I knew this was going to be tough,” he said.

“The boys had a job to do today and I thought they did it well. They completed their sets on most occasions which was good. A good team effort.

“Casey Burgess was good again, every week the boys are turning up which is good.”

The Dragons mentor said with six rounds to go his side had a great feeling at training and on game day.

“Yeah they are very happy at the moment. A few of the boys are looking to play first grade and of course they’ve said they want to play but they’ve also said they want to win a premiership in 18s,” Stott said.

“They’ve got a good morale and it’s going well at the moment.”

The Dragons face Orange CYMS this weekend in Orange. Before going into last weekend’s games CYMS were sitting just outside the top five.

MUDGEE DRAGONS 26 (Casey Burgess 2, Chanse Burgess 2, James O’Connell tries; O’Connell 3 goals) def. LITHGOW WORKIES 16 (Daniel Rodgers, Dylan Battersby, Ryan Gurney tries; Battersby 2 goals)