Mitchell's 65^th minute strike proved the difference in the fast-paced round 12 Pascoe Cup tie at Hall Bros Oval.

The result strengthens Young's finals bid, following back-to-back defeats, while it sees Hanwood FC slip from the top of the table for the first time since round four.

Young coach Mark Mellish said it was in his top five wins as a coach.

He also noted that his side hasn't conceded against Hanwood in their two encounters this season.

The Griffith-based side has scored the most goals in the competition so far.

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"It was fast game of football. It was really good to watch and they're a class side," Mellish said.

"It's a game we had earmarked for awhile. We took confidence out of the 0-0 draw at Hanwood earlier in the year, we were the first to take points off them.

"We were saying that when they come here they're going to get beat. It's been a hard two weeks so it's good to get the win. In 10 years of coaching that was one of my top five wins."

Mellish explained that it wasn't just a case of running out on Sunday and getting the points.

"Duncan [Cameron] and I did some research during the week and we formulated a gameplan to allow our wing backs to attack more. We used a different formation to our usual. At training I said here's the objectives and full credit to them they stood up," he said.

Mellish said that there was some risk in changing the side's formation from their usual 4-2-3-1 to a 4-2-2-2.

"It's not used a lot, it's something a few of them hadn't seen before," Mellish said.

"It was a more narrow formation which allowed our wing backs to overlap in attack.

"We know they're [Hanwood FC] are good in attack and we knew we had to be better with ball distribution. We usually play counter-attacking football but we knew if we sat back we'd concede.

"The formation we used allowed us to move the ball wider quicker and there was a lot of focus on movement off the ball. Full credit to the boys, they took it on board."

This weekend, Young hosts Tolland in round 13 of the Pascoe Cup.

Six rounds remain in the regular season, with the Lions well and truly in the finals race.

In other results Leeton United embarrassed Cootamundra 17-0 and Tolland won at Tumut 2-1.

Henwood Park's seven game unbeaten run came to a halt as Wagga United reminded the Pascoe Cup they're a force to be reckoned with in a 1-all draw.

Lake Albert took top spot beating South Wagga 3-0.