Cowra has leapfrogged Orange Hawks to the summit of the Group 10 ladder after results went the Magpies’ way on Sunday afternoon.
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The Magpies overcame a slow start to put Mudgee Dragons to the sword winning 58-14 while at Wade Park Oberon defeated Orange Hawks 22-20, Hawks now facing a third straight loss.
News of the result at Orange filtered through at kick-off in the main game at Sid Kallas Oval, spurring the Magpies to an early 24-8 lead at the break.
Tries flowed in the second-half with the Magpies piling on seven tries to one, lifting them to top spot with just one regular round remaining before the finals series.
A Cowra victory next week against Lithgow Workies would seal the minor premiership.
Magpies captain Josh Rainbow said it’d be a bonus to finish on top.
“We’re very happy,” he said.
“It’d be a bonus if we can finish like this it’d be good. We’ll get to training and do the little things right and start again at Lithgow next week.”
Two first half tries to five-eighth Warren Williams and one each to Bradyn Cassidy and Lee McClintock gave Cowra a 24-8 lead at the break.
The Magpies turned the screws in the second-half as frustrations boiled in the Dragons camp.
Cassidy grabbed a second while Jay McClintock, Zac Browne, Travis Wanninara, John Grant and Joey Bugg all scored one each.
Corin Smith went in for the Dragons’ lone try of the half.
Caley Mok kicked six from six in front of the sticks and Jeremy Gordon converted three including one with his left foot after the final siren.
“We stuck to our guns. We defended well and we did all the main things right,” Rainbow said.
“Our attitude was very good. We defended well too.”
Mudgee’s five-eighth Jared Robinson was disappointed with the performance.
“That wasn’t first grade footy,” he said.
“We know it’s a long trip and we knew it was going to be tough. It’s a bit disappointing but I can’t fault the effort of the blokes who made the effort to come over.
“I think early in the first half when we made some silly errors and they jumped out to 24-8 it put us on the back foot.
“We know we can’t feature in the finals so we go home tonight and lick our wounds. We’re hoping to finish off with a big crowd on Saturday and finish with a positive.”
Cowra Magpies 58 (Bradyn Cassidy 2, Warren Williams 2, Lee McClintock, Jay McClintock, Zac Browne, Travis Wanninara, John Grant, Joey Bugg tries; Caley Mok six conversions, Jeremy Gordon three conversions) bt Mudgee Dragons 14 (Nathan Orr, Lachlan Hill, Corin Smith tries; Hill conversion)
