Yanco-Wamoon has gone to joint top of the table after picking up a scrappy 48-32 win over Yenda at Wade Park on Sunday afternoon.
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The Hawks coach Troy Preston admitted that while being on top is nice there is still plenty for his side to work on.
"It is good to be level on top, but we didn't play like a top of the table team today," he said.
"We have a lot of work to do over the next two weeks before finals if we are going to give it a real crack.
"Ball security is something that we need to work on after today. We just turned over too much possession. I guess to not perform at our best and still get a win is a positive."
The Blueheelers started strongly with Moses Lolohea opening the scoring after regaining his own bomb with the Hawks defence allowing the ball to bounce, but it was short-lived with Kane Hammond getting over under the post.
Yenda was able to retake the lead with Jeremy Mau stripping the ball from Billy Ingram and getting over under the post before Willie Lolohea followed him across soon after the see the Blueheelers leading 14-6.
The Hawks scored the next couple tries with Preston and Shannon Bradbrook getting over, but it was the eighth-placed Blueheelers who were able to take a 20-16 lead into halftime when Giuseppe Rovere crashed over.
The Hawks came out after halftime with more perk in their step and Preston said it came down to a simple message.
"I just told them that we needed to go back to basics and needed to complete our sets," he said.
"If we are fair dinkum about giving the finals a crack we have to play a bit smarter and be a bit more professional in the way that we do play.
"You just can't keep turning over ball it doesn't matter who the opposition is or where they are on the ladder if you keep turning over the ball you are going to be in for a long hard day."
The Hawks started to build a gap with four straight tries to start the second half with Codey Parsons, Liam Bowker, Jesse Fitzhenry and Shannon Bradbrook to see the Hawks leading 38-20 with 16 minutes remaining.
While time was against them, Yenda wasn't about to go down without a fight as Chris Latu, and Moses Lolohea crossed to bring the margin back to just and converted try with five minutes left, however, Soqoni Saurara and Harry Daudravuni scored late to wrap up the 48-32 win for the Yanco side.
The Hawks will now prepare for a tough test with West Wyalong, who are hot on their tail, heading to Yanco next weekend while Yenda will make the trip out to Lake Cargelligo.
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