A mere 28 for-and-against points separated the Cowra Magpies and Orange CYMS going into their Round 15 clash but it was a tale of two very different sides come the final hooter on Saturday.
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With finals just around the corner, the Magpies marked a return to form and kept their hopes for a home semi alive with a dominant performance over the injury-riddled CYMS, running in a 40 to 12 victory at Sid Kallas Oval.
Magpies coach Kurt Hancock said it was a relieving victory after two gritty wins in the past few weeks.
"We've been through that real tough period in the season and then they come out and play some footy like that," he said.
"We need to continue that, use that momentum and keep playing some good footy."
Hancock lauded the efforts of captain Blake Tidswell and halves combination Joseph Bugg and Claude Gordon.
"I thought our halves were outstanding today, they're starting to really gel and click," he said.
"I think Jack Nobes, it was probably his best game of the season and Jeremy Gordon is just getting better and better after his injury."
Tidswell said the Magpies' success come finals time will be determined by how well the side starts each game.
"I think as long as we go out with good energy, good aggression and start well, we know that the boys can throw good footy at them," he said.
CYMS captain/coach Dom Maley said he was proud of his team's efforts with 10 regular first players in the injury ward.
"The last thing we needed was to come down and give them easy marches down the field but to be honest, I'm very proud of these guys today," he said.
"For them to turn up and push them a little bit in the first half and probably even in the second half we could have gotten away a little bit more at times... the effort was there the whole way through."
Maley said he believes CYMS can still play finals footy, but it will be an uphill battle.
"We knew it was going to be a tough day, we know they've got a quality side and it's going to be a close run for the finals now," he said.
There was plenty of back and forth in the first 20 minutes of the contest before Magpies winger Zac Browne flew down the sideline and broke through CYMS' left side defence to cross the try line twice in five minutes.
Workhorse William Ingram and hooker Logan Harris added their names to the try scorers list to send the Magpies into the sheds 20-0 up at halftime.
CYMS showed glimpses of a comeback early in the second half, with Aiden Baker crossing the stripe.
It was all Magpies for the remainder of the half, with last year's grand finalists running in another four tries before CYMS' Sam Warner crossed for a consolation try in the last minute of the game.
Saturday's game was also an opportunity for the Magpies to mark Indigenous Day and Old Boys' Day and Tidswell believes this help lift the boys.
"We all talk about it, I know myself, if you do a good tackle or have a good hit up, you can hear them in the crowd," he said.
"It fires you up and the boys respect that, everyone knew it was a big day and we've taken advantage of that and come home with it."
Cowra Magpies President, Marc McLeish paid homage to the club's sponsors and the first grade side for their efforts on the day.
"We just want to acknowledge that the first grade major sponsors in Fly Oz, Morgan Insurance and Cladding Australia, as well as our major sponsor the Cowra Services Club were happy to forgo their spots on the Indigenous heritage jersey," he said.
"The beauty of today's Indigenous round was that it was completely player driven, the first grade players decided that's what they wanted to do, they arranged the designs, they arranged the jersey order, they drove this.
"It's good to see the boys take ownership of the club and do it because they want to."
COWRA MAGPIES 40 (Browne 2, Ingram, Harris, Cassidy, Ramien, Mok, Gordon. Conversions: Mok 4) def. ORANGE CYMS 12 (Baker, Warner. Conversions: Petrie 2)