Tumut's dominance at the ruck ended Young's unbeaten start to the season.
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Responding from a disappointing loss to Kangaroos, last year's grand finalists had too much firepower at Alfred Oval on Sunday.
Able to dictate terms due to their control of the play-the-ball speed, the Blues ran out 30-18 winners.
Co-coach Zac Masters led the way up the middle.
He scored the opening two tries of the game as Tumut asserted their dominance early.
Young hung into the contest but never really looked like threatening Tumut's lead
Masters was thrilled with how the side hit back.
"The boys really stepped up a lot from our previous game," Masters said.
"Against Kangaroos we were pretty ordinary and very disappointed with that but to come out here today and get a win in Young is awesome.
"We controlled the ball a lot better.
"We were only at about 30 per cent in the first half against Kangaroos and it really zapped our energy.
"It is hard to control ruck speed when you don't have any energy in defence so I think it made a big difference."
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Masters crossed twice in the first 17 minutes before Nick Cornish got the Cherrypickers on the board.
However the Blues responded with two tries in the last four minutes to take a 22-6 lead into half-time.
First Young then fell foul to an old-fashioned mousetrap play as Tolo Aroha-Tuinauvai crossed with four minutes left in the half before Mitch Ivill sliced through out wide.
Mitch Cornish responded 11 minutes into the first half before the 'Pickers cut the margin to 10 points when Nayah Freeman scored off a Boro Navori flick pass with 23 minutes remaining.
Just as Young shaped to get back into the contest, Tumut had four straight sets on their line before Matt Byatt finally barged his way over.
A Jacob Toppin penalty goal with two minutes remaining then sealed the win.
Masters was pleased with how the Blues responded in the second half.
"We were on the front foot in the first half and I thought we were the better side but knowing Young they are a tough, competitive side and came out in the second half and made it very hard for us," he said.
"I'm pretty proud of how the boys hung in there and got the job done."
After scoring 116 points in their first two games, Young's attack hasn't had as much fluency in their past two games up against tougher opposition.
It's one thing coach Nick Hall is looking to correct ahead of another tough test against unbeaten Southcity following the general bye.
"We're looking for chances but never got to them," Hall said.
"We were stuck at rucks so we need to pull the trigger a bit more.
"We've already talked about needing to let it sing a little bit more, let Hally (Nic Hall), Boro and (Ben) McAlpine have a little bit more ball."
Hall didn't believe the side responded after Masters forced his way over twice to start the clash.
"They were always just one step ahead throughout the day," he said.
"It was a game of rucks and they won the rucks.
"They were just better than us.
"We tightened it up but there were three soft tries in the first half.
"They were very soft. They worked for field position and then were just gifted tries so we need to be better than that.
"We need more resilience as we were a bit brittle and we've been better than that in previous weeks.
"They are big, athletic boys and they did well."
Hall knows things won't be any easier for their fourth straight home game after the bye.
Meanwhile Tumut will tackle Albury, fresh off their win over Gundagai, at Laurie Daley Oval.
Both Masters and Ron Leapai will miss the clash due to Country representative commitments which will put their forward depth under plenty of pressure.