After entering the top-five with a 52-0 trouncing of Tumbarumba at Tumbarumba on Saturday, the reigning premier can stitch up a spot by defeating Junee at Greenfield Park this weekend.

“We’re a step closer,” coach Ben Jeffery said.

“It’s very tight but another win should just about get us there with the bye and Gundagai to come.

“All we can do is focus on Junee and hopefully get the job done.

“It was pretty tough going up at Tumbarumba but the boys played well.”

Playing in atrocious conditions, Albury led 18-0 at half-time before picking up the tempo and storming to its sixth successive victory.

The barnstorming Levi Freeman continued his impressive form by scoring the opening two tries of the match with Dave Cowhan extending the margin late in the half.

Andrew Smith and Cameron Breust stepped up in the absence of brothers Mitch and Chris Seaton as the visitors scored six tries to none after the break .

Breust nailed nine goals from nine shots.

Thunder came through the match unscathed on the injury front.

“It was a really stop-start game with penalty after penalty,” Jeffery said.

“They tried to slow the game down as much as they could to take some time out of it.

“We didn’t let them score which was good.

“It’s always a good sign when you can hold the opposition out for 80 minutes.

“I thought we played better and better as the game went on as we settled into a rhythm.”

After being written off following a poor start to the season, Thunder has hit back hard with wins over Brothers, Kangaroos, Southcity, Cootamundra, Temora and Tumbarumba.

Young and Cootamundra have slipped outside the top five in recent weeks and face a tough assignment bouncing back with tough draws ahead.

Jeffery played down the prospect of his team making a late charge towards the top-three.

“We would have to rely on other results for that to happen,” he said.

“At this stage we need to keep winning and that’s all we can do.

“We’re in the top five and want to stay there.”

Mitch and Chris Seaton and Daniel Hill missed the win over Tumbarumba due to weddings and will return for the clash against Junee.

Tumbarumba remains anchored to the bottom of the ladder following 14 straight losses and is without coach Aaron Sweeney for 12 months after he was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute.

Meanwhile, Kangaroos defeated Young 32-10 at Equex Centre on Saturday.

The scores were locked at 10-all at half-time before the Wagga side found another gear with Mitch Blackstock, Jake Dooley, Liam Duffy and Warren Lloyd in the thick of the action.

Youngster Zeik Foster also impressed at five-eighth.

Young sorely missed coach Luke Branighan with a calf injury.

“There was plenty of effort, but we played a lot of dumb football,” Branighan said.

“We were lost a bit in attack.”

Kangaroos suffered a spate of injuries with Chris Jordan, Tyler Austin and Tom Webb facing lengthy stints on the sidelines.