Albury maintained contact with the top three after a 32-22 win over Kangaroos at Equex Centre on Sunday.
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Despite the game finishing with a 10-point margin, the border outfit dominated for most of the clash.
Captain-coach Ben Jeffery believes the Thunder are slowly building into the season and the win over the Wagga showed their attack is getting back on track.
“Take away the first five minutes and the last 10 and we were pretty good for the majority of the game,” Jeffery said. “We probably bombed three or four tries but I think we were quite good.
“It is coming together slowly, the shape was quite good and we created a lot more opportunities for ourselves.”
Kangaroos showed phases of being able to compete with the top teams and opened the scoring through fullback Jake Dooley.
However, the Thunder were a touch ahead of their undermanned rivals as they scored the next three tries to take a 24-6 lead at half-time.
Already playing without captain-coach Adam Hall, ‘Roos lost Liam Duffy in the warm-up, forcing Baden Power into the action.
Kangaroos have struggled with injuries this season and Hayden Ashcroft and Mitch Blackstock were added to the list just after half-time.
The two forwards went off with leg injuries within minutes of each other.
However, the Wagga club was next to score when teenager playmaker Max Burey scored off a ricocheted grubber kick from Jaden Kelly with 27 minutes remaining.
New Albury winger Buchanan Rawhiti looked to have snuffed out any chance of the ‘Roos comeback when he crossed for his second before Mitch Seaton pushed the margin out to 20 points when he scored with 12 minutes on the clock.
But, Kangaroos showed some of their attacking ability when they scored two tries in as many minutes.
Lachlan Cuell took the scoreline to 32-18 when he scored with nine minutes left before Daniel Hill made a big break off the kick-return.
He made 70 metres before he looked to be contained by Jeffery, however he was able to slip a ball to Kelly to complete the long range effort.
While getting within striking distance, ‘Roos didn’t have many more opportunities and slumped to their eighth loss this season.
They only sit above last-placed Tumbarumba on percentage while Jeffery eyes a crack at the top three.
They get the chance to make inroads on the top three taking on Southcity next week.
Meanwhile, their final hopes have also been bolstered by Temora’s shock loss to Tumut as they are now two points and percentage clear of the Dragons.