The race for finals has been blown wide open after Dederang-Mt Beauty toppled Yackandandah in a thriller.
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Starting the day sixth, four points behind the Roos, the Bombers knew defeat would realistically have left them staring down the barrel.
But their 12.2 (74) to 8.15 (63) victory at Dederang has moved them level on points with last season's minor premiers, with games against the bottom three sides to come.
"That was a big one today," Bombers coach Damien Jones said.
"We remembered a lot from round one (losing to Yackandandah) and it was a game we'd set ourselves for around four weeks.
"The support we got on the final siren, it's one of the better wins I've been a part of.
"Our rooms were pretty full and it meant so much to us.
"Our season was on the line; if we'd lost I think the top five would have been set so there was a lot riding on the game.
"We came from behind, we were down at three-quarter-time but we're pretty hard to play against on our home deck at Dederang in front of our home fans.
"It meant a lot to our playing group and it gives us a lot of belief but it also meant a lot to our supporters as well.
"The rooms after the game were electric."
Jones challenged his players to prove their critics wrong in the final huddle.
"We've set ourselves to play finals for the last couple of years and if we want to do it, we need to beat some teams above us," he said.
"It's been stated from you guys in The Border Mail and from opposition coaches that we couldn't beat anyone above us - and we took that on.
"That was a message I relayed to the group, that there's a fair bit of doubt about our team, externally, and I asked them for an effort.
"I thought we got that over the last quarter.
"We had no bench from half-time onwards, so that made the win even bigger.
"Our leading goal-kicker, Nick Hynes, did his hamstring in the first quarter, so those things all contribute."
Elliott Powell capped an inspirational display with three goals for the Bombers.
"His last six weeks of footy have been huge," Jones said.
"He set himself for today.
"He copped a fair bit in round one against Yack, stuff I won't go into, but I asked him for an effort today and he was best on ground by an absolute mile.
"Josh Kable was huge, we swapped him around today, he normally plays at centre half-back but we put him in the ruck and he fed Jordy (Harrington) and Elliott all day."
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Dederang-Mt Beauty's six remaining games are against Wahgunyah (away), Tallangatta (home), Wodonga Saints (away), Barnawartha (away), Mitta (home) and Beechworth (home).
"We've got a couple of hard ones on the way home," Jones said.
"Barny at Barny is one of the hardest games in the Tallangatta league and then we've got Beechworth, who's probably the most in-form side in the league.
"We've just got to keep winning.
"The ball's in our court and we're a hard side to play against at Dederang."
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