“I wasn’t trying to be smart about it but it came to fruition on the weekend when we beat them five nil,” Hale said.

“I think that fired the boys up too and made them concentrate harder on getting the win because we definitely talked about going over there and getting the job done.”

Veteran John Osborn kicked off the rout with a 1up victory over Dave Corby, with Matt Stanley (3 and 2), Andrew Best (2 and 1), Josh Campbell (1up) and Mark Hale (4 and 2) following suit with wins.

Hale’s triumph was arguably the most impressive, the Mudgee No.1 storming to a commanding victory over Duntry’s best Robert Payne by the 16th hole.

In the other pool A clash, Wellington scored a 3-2 win over Wentworth, resigning the Orange club to the bottom of the ladder.

In pool B, big guns Forbes knocked off Bathurst 3-2 at the Cowra Golf Club.

Mudgee travels to Wellington next Sunday to face Dubbo in a match that will determine semi-finals placings.

If Hale’s men fall to Dubbo, they will face them again in the semi-finals, whereas a triumph over Dubbo would see a rematch with Duntryleague.

“Dubbo will probably be our toughest match,” Hale said.

“They got beat by Duntryleague two weeks ago so they’ll be really pumped up.”