Charles Sturt University upset The Rock-Yerong Creek by 20 points

The Bushpigs gave their finals hopes a massive boost by enjoying their second win over the Magpies in as many seasons, winning 12.5 (77) to 7.15 (57) at Peter Hastie Oval on Saturday.

A scintillating half-hour burst from the Bushpigs did all the damage as CSU piled on nine unanswered goals to set up the win.

CSU co-coach Travis Cohalan said he team got what they deserved.

"I'm just immensely proud," Cohalan said.

"We won five in a row and that was the first time the club had done that since 2001 and then we knew it was going to be a tough period, we walked into the top three teams in the comp in the Jets, Marrar and today The Rock in consecutive weeks.

"The Jets got us by 30, Marrar then got ahold of last week after quarter time so it would have been easy for the boys to turn up today and think we're not much of a chance or to be a bit shellshocked or down in confidence but we spoke before the game about being harder for longer and turning one good quarter into two into three into four and today to the boy's credit, they turned up and they were mentally tough all day.

"The theme for the day was harder for longer and I thought we were clearly harder for longer and we got the result."

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The first 20 minutes of Saturday's contest was virtually all the Magpies and perhaps only inaccuracy kept CSU in the game as TRYC booted 3.6 to lead by 18 points.

But CSU responded and booted three goals in a crucial three-minute period just before quarter-time to level the scores.

That finish appeared to give CSU confidence as they came out and owned TRYC in the second quarter, moving the ball with pinpoint precision to kick six straight goals.

It gave CSU a 33-point half-time lead but that alone was not going to be enough to get the job done against the ladder leaders.

TRYC responded and kicked three goals to one in the third term to close within 21 points at the final change.

They got the all-important first goal of the final term inside four minutes to draw within 15 points but that's as close as they would get as the Bushpigs held strong for a famous victory.

CSU's ball use was a highlight of the win and Cohalan revealed it was a focus heading into the game.

"I think the ball movement's been something we've been working on all year...we had a focus this weekend at training on making sure we use the useables," he said.

"We think we spread really well when we're winning back, especially on our ground where there is a lot of space. It was really just about if you don't need to kick to a contest, don't. Work hard, make the ground big and use the loose options as they appear and I thought we did that well today."

The win keeps CSU in fifth spot ahead of an important showdown with sixth-placed Barellan next week.

Cohalan believes the confidence they take from toppling TRYC is just as important as what it does for the Bushpigs' on the ladder.

"I think the confidence is the bigger thing," he said.

"Honestly, like I said during the week, we haven't spoken about finals at all, all we've spoke about is that if we play our best footy, it will take care of itself and we'll be good enough to be there.

"Today's a great result and I'm really big on enjoying your wins, especially when we're such a young group and the club hasn't had that many big wins over the last decade or so, so I'm big on enjoying the win but when Tuesday night rolls around, we get back into work because we've got a very hard road trip to go across to Barellan. They're obviously going to be desperate because we're pretty much fighting for the same spot, I'd say, us and them so we're expecting them to be a big challenge.

"The best part of it is our future is in our own hands. If we're good enough and we win enough games and we play like we did today, then we'll get there, if we don't, we probably don't deserve to be there."

It was an uncharacteristic performance from the Magpies, who did go into the game without seven regular first grade players.

They also lost co-captain Curtis Steele, for what turned out to be most of the second half, with a yellow card for umpire abuse and picked up injuries to fellow co-captain Cooper Diessel (shoulder), Cody Cool (leg) and Dylan Choy (knee).

Lachie Holmes was magnificent for CSU. He won plenty of contested footy through the midfield and pushed forward to kick three important goals.

Lachie Moore was also important through the middle, winning plenty of ball and sending the Bushpigs forward, while Max Findlay, Sam Barrow and Dusty Rogers were other CSU players to shine.

Riley Budd was enormous in defeat for the Magpies, he kicked three goals and was everywhere, while James Roberts was a strong focal point but didn't finish his work and finished with 2.6.

Full-time

CSU Bushpigs 4.0 10.0 11.3 12.5 (77)

TRYC Magpies 3.6 3.9 6.12 7.15 (57)

GOALS: CSU Bushpigs: L.Holmes 3, W.Archibald 2, H.Wooden 2, H.warwick 1, J.Steel 1, S.Holgate 1, D.Rogers 1, L.Moore 1; TRYC Magpies: R.Budd 3, J Roberts 2, D.Choy, S.Williams.

BEST: CSU Bushpigs: L.Holmes, M.Findlay, S.Barrow, T.Cohalan, J.Collingridge, H.Wakefield; TRYC Magpies: N.Budd, J.Roberts, R.Budd, T.Post, S.Williams, H.White.

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