CDHBU rammed another nail into Rand-Walbundrie’s finals coffin after a comprehensive 45-point victory at Walbundrie on Saturday.
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The Tigers went into the clash on a six-match winning streak but proved no match for the third-placed Power, who consolidated their lofty standing with the 19.12 (126) to 12.9 (81) win.
After making the grand final last season, the Tigers remain a mathematical chance of sneaking a finals berth, only four points and percentage outside the top six.
But the eighth-placed Tigers face Jindera, Osborne, Brock-Burrum, Henty, Howlong and CDHBU again in the run home.
They need to win at least three of those to stay in contention — which looks like Mission Impossible on exposed form against the league heavyweights.
CDHBU coach Damian Payne rated Saturday’s performance as being out of the top drawer.
“From a coaching point of view, it was a terrific win and probably our most complete performance of the season,” Payne said.
“It was the closest we have come to producing a consistent four-quarter performance.
“It was pretty greasy underfoot, but the conditions weren’t too bad considering.”
In a further bonus the Power went into the clash without six walk-up starters in Luke Cowan, Andrew Ollington, Joel Rippingale, Sean Hanrahan and Sam and Tyson Burdon.
Classy performers Kade Rowe, Jeremy Stevenson and Nathan Rhodes help cover their absences, with their slick ball use instrumental in setting up the victory.
Payne capped off their good work with six goals playing deep in attack, his second biggest bag of the season.
Tim Cooper was also a tower in defence, winning a host of contested possessions while blanketing the dangerous Josh Warren-Marmo.
The Power can stake a claim for a top-two finish in the next month with matches against Culcairn, Murray Magpies and Jindera before having a bye.
But Payne said they wouldn’t be getting ahead of themselves considering the tight nature of the competition.
“We are under no illusion we have to keep winning games if we want to play finals,” he said.
“If we can do that, we can control our own destiny and won’t have to rely on other results, which is a lot less stressful.”
The Magpies’ finals aspirations dodged a bullet with a two-point win against bottom placed Culcairn.
Little separated the two teams for the majority of the contest before two late goals to Will McGrath sealed the thrilling win for the home team.
Brock-Burrum had little trouble disposing of Holbrook at Burrumbuttock, winning by 74 points with Dean Murphy booting five goals in a best-on-ground display.
