Jack Creith and Chad Porter are one of the most dangerous duos in Group 11 and they reinforced that standing on Sunday by combining for five tries in Parkes' 38-22 twin town derby win over Forbes.
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Halfback Porter scored a hat-trick while Creith chimed crossed twice as the Spacemen silenced a strong Spooner Oval crowd and kept alive their hopes of a top three finish heading into the final round.
A try for Ben Maguire got Forbes back to four points early in the second half but the Spacemen rallied, despite some handling errors, to move level with the Macquarie Raiders and just one point behind third-placed Nyngan.
"We were really strong defensively today, and I was happy with that, but we just kept turning the ball over and letting them back into the contest," Parkes coach Brent Wood said.
"We haven't been able to complete our sets all year, but if we can do that at the right time we will be really dangerous."
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Forbes has the bye in next weekend's final round, meaning they finish a disappointing 2021 season with just one win to their name.
Sunday proved to be one of their better performances of the season and the Magpies opened the scoring on 11 minutes when Traie Merritt pounced on a Nick Greenhalgh grubber.
But the Spacemen soon took control as Porter and Creith pulled the strings while Sam Dwyer was again impressive at fullback.
Parkes will finish its regular season next weekend at Wellington.
The Cowboys are level at the top with Dubbo CYMS but remain second due to their weaker differential.
Parkes sits fifth but a win over the Cowboys next weekend combined with losses for Nyngan and Macquarie would result in Wood's troops flying into third spot.
The Spacecats league tag side also won on Sunday to confirm second spot behind the unbeaten Dubbo CYMS.
