Dederang-Mount Beauty’s A grade netball side have all but ended Mitta United’s finals aspirations after an inspired 53-45 away win at Magorra Park last Saturday.

After being humbled by Mitta in their last meeting way back in round one, which ended in a 26-44 home loss, the Bombers had a point to prove and showed the competition they mean business in the back half of the season.

After last week’s 22-point victory against 10th-placed Beechworth, Dederang-Mount Beauty (eighth) went one better against finals contenders Mitta (sixth), who are now 10 competition points adrift of the next best team inside the top five with six rounds to play.

Not for the first time, Audrey Barker dominated in the shooting circle with 38 goals and combined well with attacking partner and coach Keely Bullivant (15 goals) to create a plethora of opportunities as a partnership and gave the Mitta defence plenty of headaches.

An even tougher task will wait for the Bombers this Saturday as Yackandandah, who are sitting in fourth position will be travelling to Dederang to keep their top three hopes alive.

On the adjacent field, the Bombers’ seniors came crashing back to the surface with an 88-point loss in Tallangatta league football.

While somewhat competitive in the first half but still trailing by 31 points, Mitta went to work in a six goal to nil third term to snuff out any hopes of a Bomber fightback, and the margin blew out further in the last quarter, ending at 4.3 (27) to 18.7 (115).

DMB’s leaders stood up on a tough day – Logan Hamilton, Jaydn Chalmers, Nick Iaria, Josh Kable and Tom McGhee were influential, but too much was left to too few.

Callum Bowring, Chalmers, Charlie Connors and Emerson Lemkau hit the scoreboard for the Bombers, while for the Mountain Men, Lincoln Reed starred with seven majors, along with three apiece from Tom Gibbs and Taj White.

In a more positive result, the DMB reserves squad overpowered Mitta in the dying stages to record a nine-point win in a seesawing battle, 9.5 (59) to 7.8 (50).

Down by a point with a quarter to go, the Bombers snagged three goals to one in the final term, which sealed the deal for their second win in a row and third for the season.