A strong first half set Tumut up for a big clash against Southcity.
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The Blues added to their strong start to the season with a 36-18 win against an undermanned Junee at Twickenham on Sunday.
Tumut raced out to a 24-0 lead but struggled to find the same impact in the second stanza.
Injured co-coach Dean Bristow, who is expected to tackle the Bulls at Harris Park on Sunday, knows his team is going to have to improve to take down the ladder leaders.
"We are going to have to be a lot better than that," Bristow said.
"I think we are rolling forward well and controlling the ruck but just a few little areas and our last play options have got to get better.
"We're really looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can rise to it
Austin McDougall scored the first of his three tries to open the scoring after eight minutes.
The Blues then had a couple of tries denied for forward pass calls but added to their lead with 15 to play in the first half when Brayden Draber finished off a good back line move.
There was plenty of luck involved in their next try as the Blues failed to find touch from a penalty before Tristan Dickson had the ball stripped out by Jordan Anderson who put Adam Pearce over.
McDougall then made it 24-0 as he scored just before the break.
However the Diesels were quick to fire in the second stanza as Dickson scored off a sublime pass five minutes into the break.
Trent Schubach then scored after kicking a ball ahead to close the gap to 12 points.
However McDougall was able to stop the rot when he completed his hat-trick with 15 minutes to go.
His performance at centre was one of the few highlights for Bristow.
"He's really stepped up this year," he said.
"We used him a little bit last year but on the wing for the first half of the season and then into the centres he's grown with confidence and it is good to see."
Tyler Sutherland swooped on a spilled kick to give Junee a consolation try before Jed Pearce crashed over to round out Tumut's eighth win of the season.
They are two points behind the Bulls heading into the mouthwatering clash as they look to down a top two side for the first time this season.
Bristow wants to see the side make the most of their opportunities.
"There is still a lot to work on for us but hopefully we can start to get some combinations going soon and our biggest tell point is we slackened off," he said.
"Our 'good ball' isn't good enough.
"We are making metres good but when we get an attacking opportunity we are still breaking down."
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