Tigers 'gaining confidence' after two wins on the trot as ladder-leaders pushed | Photos

After letting two wins slip through their grasp, with 2-0 half-time leads resulting in draws, the side are now pushing the top four and midfielder Nic Smith said the Tigers' confidence is back.

The 2017 premiers defeated Cowra 3-2 at Redmond Oval on Saturday, overturning a 2-0 loss in round one when the Tigers ventured south.

"It seemed tighter than it really was, we controlled the ball for most of it," Smith said of Saturday's game.

"It was 1-all at half time, we scored early, they scored late."

Smith said it was only late Millthorpe looked to lose control of the ball, "which made for a tight last few minutes".

"We've had two draws from when we were leading 2-0 and we've come away from the last two games with two wins to hold onto our leads," he said.

The midfielder said Mitch Christie was in control of everything than came his way while Nathan Wells found the back of the net twice and "played really well" in Saturday's win.

It puts Millthorpe in fifth position on the ODFA table, three points behind Cowra with a game against bottom-ranked Waratah United to come.

United lost 6-0 in their derby against clubmates Waratah FC, which was played under lights on Friday night.

FC, the reining premiers, were simply too strong for their lowly-ranked clubmates, and continued their staggering defence having only conceded five goals in the seven games they've played in the high-scoring competition.

Meanwhile, the first Barnstoneworth club derby of the weekend saw a tight encounter as the team at the top of the Orange Football Competition's A-Grade ladder Barnstoneworth FC, was pushed all the way by the team in fifth spot, Barnies Saints.

Their first clash for the season finished in a 2-1 win for FC.

FC's Jack McGregor and Brendon Manning bagged a goal each, but Manning admits they could have played better.

"Things didn't go to plan and passes weren't sticking," Manning said.

"It was pleasing that we didn't play to our ability but still got the win."

John Chapman-Mortimer scored for Saints in a game that boosted their confidence.

Meanwhile, two goals from Will Cooney and one from Sam Sutton opened the scoring for Barnstoneworth United in their massive 8-0 win over Ex-Services FC.

Meanwhile, an Adam Radburn hat-trick helped seal a 5-2 win over Ex-Services for Barnstoneworth Beyond Blue in the B-grade competition, while a final-minute goal helped Kinross jump to the top of the table.

KWS defeated Barnstoneworth Rangers in a tough game, where Dylan Halls scored for Rangers and team manager Tori Worboys was delighted with the contribution of keep Luke Bingham.

"Luke Bingham had an absolute screamer of a game, pulling out some big dives and keeping us even," Tori Worboys said. "He even supplied enough pressure in a spot-kick to throw the Kinross kicker off for a miss."

In C-Grade the improving Brighouse broke their winless drought so far this season with a triple treat win over Waratah Eagles on the back of three first-half goals.