After two weeks of the 2020 Wallerawang Landscaping Cup season, Orange Barbarians looked dead and buried.

Lion Vanderwal's men were coming off the back of a convincing loss to CSU in round one, followed by a forfeit at Oberon and it didn't look like they'd be able to come back from it.

Fast forward two months and the rejuvenated side is enjoying a few Saturday schooners as the Barbarians will officially play finals football in the Wallerawang Landscaping Cup.

They're fresh off a heart-stopping 30-26 win over Orange United at Wade Park on Saturday afternoon and the players that Jake Kelly and Vanderwal recruited after the first fortnight stood tall, but none taller than Adam Stanford.

The former CYMS back rowers added to his busy day at the office with a match-winning four-pointer as he broke a 26-all deadlock with five minutes to go, charging onto an inside ball from Stephen Lane.

This season is somewhat of a comeback for Stanford as the 24-year-old's recovering from a torrid run of knee injuries that almost put an end to his career.

"It felt great to score at the end there," Stanford said.

"I haven't played footy in a couple of years so I thought I'd come out this year and get fit and just get my knees right and play some good footy. It's been great with the guys here.

"I've fitted in well and really enjoyed playing footy."

The key to victory from Stanford's point of view was structure as the side followed through on its pre-game commitment to spread the footy.

"We wanted to get the ball out wide and not try to get involved in any of the rubbish that was going on out in the field," he said.

"We stuck to that and eventually came through with the goods."

Although Stanford's try was a cracker, it would be rude to not highlight some of the things that happened in the lead-up to it as the talent both sides possess was on show from start to finish.

Barbarians shot out to a 12-0 lead through tries to Lachie Sharp and Jake Kelly as the skipper's chip-and-chase attempt came up trumps when United fullback Dale Jones coughed up the footy, allowing Kelly to pounce on the loose ball.

But United was quick to bounce back as Tyrell Charters scored the first of his two tries, bursting onto a short ball from Mick Newman before faking out the fullback to score.

The scoreline was 12-4 when Ethan Bereyne took the game by the scruff of the neck, dragging Barbarians defenders down the sideline before planting the ball in the corner.

It was two tries apiece after the big man's meat pie so it should have been 12-all right? Maybe even 12-10? Wrong.

Something that haunted United throughout the entire afternoon was goal kicking as Beahan's boys slotted a miserable 1/6 which in the end, wound up being the difference between winning and losing.

The sides exchanged tries throughout the contest but that didn't matter when Stanford put the game to bed.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for United, though - there were several incredible individual performances.

Matty Fuller showed sparks of absolute brilliance with off-the-cuff kicking and running. Ethan Bereyne and Tyrell Charters were human wrecking balls, but just couldn't get enough quality footy.

And so has been the story for United throughout the season... good footy in patches, but not enough.

Assistant coach Jacob Condello watched on from the sidelines and gave his assessment of the match afterwards.

"It's been the tale of the tape all year... discipline," Condello said.

"We get up, we get our noses in front and it comes creeping in. A few calls go against us and we just let it get to us.

"It does come down to us having a new team... it's been a funky year with some dysfunction. It comes down to gelling as well as discipline."

So what's the bottom line?

Well, before the Wallerawang Landscaping Cup season started, the finals was set to consist of five teams but after a round six washout, speculation crept in that the committee would be replayed the rained out game but chopping the semi finals bracket to four teams.

The committee is set to make a decision in the coming days but if it is deemed that only four sides will compete for the premiership, that would leave fifth-placed Orange United out of the postseason.

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