Young's hopes of a top five finish this Group Nine season have taken a massive blow.
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The Cherrypickers were outmuscled by Wagga Brothers in a wet-weather clash at Alfred Oval on Sunday, Brothers securing a 25-12 win after leading 14-0 early.
There was plenty riding on the result, with Young now five points adrift of fifth-placed Brothers, who have won three in a row, with six rounds remaining.
Cherrypickers coach Roy Jewitt said there's still hope to keep their season alive, but conceded it's going to be "tough".
"We have to win some games, there's still a possibility to make the five but it's going to be tough."
Brothers raced to a 14-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes after three consecutive tries to centres Peter Little, Jordan Little and halfback Cameron Breust.
A try before the break to Young's Jake Veney helped reduced the deficit to 14-6 at halftime.
As the rain became heavier it became a battle of the middle and Brothers' Liam Carey won the arm wrestle for his side, barging over for a four-pointer to open the scoring in the second-half.
Breust added the extras to extend the lead to 20-6.
Young's reserve five-eighth Matt Murray darted over to help make it an eight-point ball game with 18 minutes to go, but a 70th minute try to Wagga winger Harold Kirby all but sealed the result.
Jewitt said his side handed over too much "cheap possession".
"Even though we were down on the scoreboard we thought we were in control at halftime," Roy Jewitt said.
"We started nice and strong in the second-half and looked like we looked like we could get the result, but our kicking game was very ordinary, I thought it let us down in the second-half. We gave them cheap possession and early ball."
Brothers halfback Cameron Breust, who iced the win with a consolation field-goal, said he's excited by his side's form ahead of a mouthwatering Wagga derby next week.
Kangaroos upset ladder leaders Gundagai with a 43-20 win on Saturday.
"We've got three in a row now which is very exciting, the club's moving forward in a really positive direction, which is good," Breust said.
"Today was really gritty, obviously the conditions weren't the best for throwing the ball around so it was great to grind out a win like that. Our forwards were outstanding today.
"The local derby next week will be great. They beat Gundagai by a fair bit so it's going to be a really tough one, we had a draw against them last time so it will be another tough one."
Wagga Brothers 25 (Peter Little, Jordan Little, Cameron Breust, Liam Carey, Harold Kirby tries; Breust two conversions, field-goal) bt Young Cherrypickers (Jake Veney, Matt Murray tries; Jesse Corcoran, Jacob Lucas conversions).