Four tries in the first half to Junee winger Rusiate Kaliseiwaqa put the Diesels on the course to their first win in a month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cootamundra's winless start to the season was extended after the Junee kept themselves in the thick of the finals race with a 44-20 victory at Laurie Daley Oval.
Junee came out firing after three straight losses to lead 24-6 at half-time.
However the Bulldogs got back to 28-16 with 25 minutes to play before tries to Daniel Foley, Jarom Vakarewakobau and Tristan Dickson put the result out of reach.
Coach Trent Schubach was far from impressed with the second half.
"The first 20-25 minutes was pretty good, I think we completed every set, and it was pretty good signs when we were up 24-0 but they scored right on the half-time siren which hurt us a bit," Schubach said.
"It was just a soft little try and it gave them some confidence and the second half was pretty average from our standard.
"It went try-for-try for the first 20 and a couple of really soft tries let us down.
"You can't be doing that as against the better sides they will end up blowing us away."
The win means the Diesels are just two points behind fifth-placed Temora however they've got a big test on the horizon taking on Southcity.
Schubach knows they will need to be improved or risk a difficult second half of the season.
"It has been a long time coming and we've got a good side on paper but we are just not playing all that well as a team," he said.
"Hopefully one win brings two and we can get on a bit of a roll but it is a big test against Southcity next week.
"If we've got a full strength side then hopefully we can give them a shake as we probably need to be winning most of our games.
"We've got eight games to go and probably need to win six of them to make finals."