Cowra Magpies move into Group 10 top five after hammering injury-ravaged CYMS

With almost a dozen regular first graders out CYMS captain-coach Dom Maley was forced to call on a wealth of stand-ins for the crucial fifth-versus-sixth encounter and while the Orange side's backs-to-the-wall effort couldn't be questioned, they couldn't keep pace with the powerful Magpies.

Cowra ran in eight tries to two in a 28-point, 40-12 demolition at Sid Kallas Oval, moving ahead of CYMS into outright fifth and picking up a healthy differential boost from the victory too.

"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, although he did lament his side's lack of discipline in giving the Magpies plenty of piggy-backs.

"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.

"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."

It was Cowra's third win on the trot and with the finals looming Magpies coach Kurt Hancock said it was good to find some free-flowing form after gritty wins over Blayney and Bathurst St Pat's in the prior fortnight.

"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."

CYMS pushed Cowra through the opening quarter of the game, but after Zac Browne's quick-fire double the Magpies ran rampant. Will Ingram and Logan Harris both added their names to the score-sheet to give Cowra a 20-nil at the break.

Although CYMS crossed first in the second half through Aidan Baker it was all Cowra from there, with last year's beaten grand finalists crossing four more times before Sam Warner scored a consolation try for the visitors in the 80^th minute.

Hancock lauded the efforts of captain Blake Tidswell and halves combination Joey 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.

Saturday's Indigenous Round, which also doubled as Cowra's Old Boys' Day, gave the Magpies a lift as well, Tidswell added.

"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."

"The beauty of [the] 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," Cowra president Marc McLeish added.

"It's good to see the boys take ownership of the club and do it because they want to."