COOLAMON coach Claudia Barton has labelled Saturday's 39-29 loss to Wagga Tigers as "an opportunity missed" which has put their Riverina League finals hopes under severe threat
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The Hoppers could have drawn level with the third-placed Tigers on the table with victory, but are now two games behind the defending champions in equal fifth, alongside Griffith and Leeton-Whitton.
They travel to Leeton this weekend in a vital match for both side's hopes of squeezing into the top five.
"It was definitely an opportunity missed, we could have performed a lot better than we did," Barton said.
"We knew it was going to be a tough and physical game, but unfortunately our third quarter let us down.
"We had a few combos we haven't had the chance to try before, and their shock of their defensive pressure did rattle us a bit."
Tigers captain Jess Allen believes their premiership defence is starting to gather steam.
Their only two losses have come against unbeaten top two sides Collingullie-Glenfield Park and Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes.
"We were expecting them (Coolamon) to be pretty tough so we were happy with any win, let alone a ten goal one," Allen said.
"We're just trying to work on that consistency for the four quarters. Once we get that better, we'll be pretty hard to stop."
Collingullie hosts MCUE this weekend with top spot on the ladder the reward for the victors.
MCUE warmed up with a 63-48 win over Griffith, while Collingullie hammered Turvey Park 67-26.
"It will be a really good test," MCUE coach Marie Campbell said.
"The tougher games usually bring out our best individually. Sometimes when it's not as challenging they can switch off a bit."
In the other match, Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong continued their revival with a 46-35 win over Leeton Whitton.
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