The Cowra Magpie's 2015 Group 10 hopes took a hit last weekend against Bathurst Panthers - a side they beat in the competition's opening rounds - when they suffered a 30-16 loss at Carrington Park.
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After thumping Oberon two weeks ago, and looking at a potential top three finish, a pair of losses has seen Cowra slip to equal sixth alongside Panthers and Orange Hawks.
But the problem lies in Bathurst St Pat's, who have strengthened their grip on the all important fifth place, holding a four point buffer from their rivals below and now look to be the only side in the top five which could surrender their finals spot.
Hosting Hawks this Sunday is one Cowra are targeting as a must win clash particularly with away matches against Mudgee and CYMS to come in the final rounds.
“Definitely, it is pretty much a must win,” Sutton said.
“If we get beat we’ll lose too much ground on St Pat’s and we’ll be well behind the eight ball making it very hard.
“We’re not looking at the ladder, it’s simple for us we have to win matches.”
VIDEO: Watch Matt Findlay and Nick McGrath preview round 12 of Group 10
With the bye up their sleeve, Sutton identified three fixtures that can boost the Black and Whites into finals contention, this Sunday (round 12), Bathurst St Pat’s (round 15) and Oberon (round 18).
That would see Cowra finish on 16 competition points.
It begins this weekend with Hawks making the trip to Sid Kallas Oval where the Magpies are aiming to clean sweep their round 12 opponents after impressing at Wade Park earlier in the year.
One thing Sutton is wary of, though, is Hawks’ contingent of young players and the speed they have out wide, while defence has been the emphasis of training this week.
“They have a lot of young players, I’m not sure how they will line-up on Sunday but I do know that the kids who have been given an opportunity have done excellent,” Sutton said.
“Our problem the last two week’s hasn’t been making metres it’s just we haven’t been able to capitalise when we get opportunities.
We’ve been pushing passes one too far so it’s something we’ve been talking about for awhile, being a bit more selective.
“We worked on defence a lot on Tuesday and we will again tonight (last night) and maybe have a light run on Sunday morning to go through some ball work.”
Cowra will look to limit Hawks’ chances and the impact of their back-line by dominating field possession and maybe even injecting some youth of their own from the under 18s Sutton said.
The same side as last week has been announced but some late changes are expected.
The Magpies tackle Hawks on Sunday at Sid Kallas Oval after first division.
