Four unanswered tries in the first period gave the Eagles a 22-0 lead at the break at the Cowra Rugby Grounds, a further four five-pointers to City’s one in the second period secured the round 14 victory.

The result lifts the Eagles to fourth place with Dubbo Roos slipping from third to fifth after going down to Bulldogs, while Forbes edged Emus to move to third.

Cowra’s fate, though, is still very much in the balance. Victory in next week’s final round would secure a home semi-final but a loss could spell the end of the season.

“Forbes winning makes it a bit more difficult to get a semi-final now. But we’ll get back to training this week and focus on what we need to,” Miller said.

“We weren’t really tested today. That one try they scored was pretty sloppy from us but it was a good performance.”

Berry opened the scoring in the opening five minutes before Brice went over back-to-back in the 19^th and 29^th minutes.

The lead was extended to 22-0 when Bill Cummins sliced through City’s line in the closing stages of the first half.

Enjoying the majority of possession, the Eagles continued to pile on the points from the restart with tries to youngsters Coopers Sullivan and Ellis Hawker, and Owen Linnell and Jacob McNaught.

City scored a late consolation in the 72^nd minute to get on the board.

Having to defend for large periods of the game, City skipper Josh Tremain heaped praise on his troops for their effort in defence.

“That was real footy. Our defence was great. That’s one of our best performances in recent weeks, I couldn’t be any more prouder of the boys,” Tremain said.

Cowra Eagles 44 (Elliott Brice 2, Tim Berry, Bill Cummins, Owen Linnell, Cooper Sullivan, Ellis Hawker, Jacob McNaught; Troy Jeffs, Jack Thurtell conversions) bt Orange City 7 (Barton Young conversion)