A first half hat-trick to Tumut fullback Dean Bristow set up the Blues win over Young at Alfred Oval on Sunday.
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Causing a boilover as the Cherrypickers looked to lock in a home semi on Sunday, Tumut ran in five first half tries to set up the win.
While outscored by Young in the second half, the Blues had already done enough to take a 34-26 victory back into the hills.
The loss knocks the Cherrypickers out of second place and now they must travel to Anzac Park on Sunday to tackle Gundagai for the right to play Southcity.
While the win is a big confidence boost, it has come at a cost.
Tumut finished with no one left on the bench at the end after Bristow and Charles Cribb came off after heavy hits.
The Blues also lost Jacob McGrath with a calf issue at half-time while Tamati Ioane injured his hamstring.
Blues coach Jarrad Teka was pleased with the performance but is worried about the long term damaged it could have caused.
“The result speaks for itself as they (Young) are a quality team and to beating them in the style that we did was very pleasing,” Teka said.
“I think on the game side of things it was exactly what we needed but we’ve come out of the game with a lot of injury worries.”
Teka is hoping they can regroup in time to tackle Kangaroos in the elimination final at Twickenham on Saturday.
Tumut are also weighing up whether to cite Young five-eighth Jesse Corcoran over his hit on Bristow on Sunday.
The Blues alleged it was a shoulder charge that caught their fullback high and he played no further part in the game.