Colbinabbin should play in the HDFNL A-grade netball finals series after scoring a crucial 50-37 win over Huntly in round 16 action on Saturday.
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The 13-goal victory lifted the fourth-placed Hoppers to a 7-7 record - two games clear of LBU, Leitchville-Gunbower and Huntly in the race for the final two spots in the finals.
Heathcote is one game further back in eighth-place, but its finals hopes remain alive - just.
"It was a really important win for us,'' Colbo coach Lisa Myers said.
"We should be safe now, but you just never know what could happen.
"We'd really like to beat LBU next week to make sure of it."
Myers said the Hoppers had responded well to the previous week's loss to Leitchville-Gunbower.
"Leitchville ran all over the top of us in the final quarter last week and we ran out of legs,'' Myers said.
"This week we had a slow start, but we made a few tweaks and we finished the game strongly.
"Our defence worked really hard, so it was a much better performance."
LBU moved ahead of Leitchville-Gunbower into fifth place on the back of its 53-35 win over North Bendigo.
With games to come against Colbo and the powerful Elmore, the Cats had to get the four points against the bottom side.
The 18-goal margin, combined with Leitchville's 42-goal loss to Elmore, saw the Cats grab a crucial 7.69 percentage break on the Bombers.
After the stirring win over Colbo the week before, the Bombers would be disappointed with the heavy loss to the Bloods.
Percentage is also vital for Heathcote.
The Saints lost 56-31 to ladder-leader White Hills on Saturday, but still have a higher percentage than Leitchville-Gunbower and Huntly.
The Saints, who have the bye next round, need Colbo and White Hills to defeat LBU and Leitchville-Gunbower respectively to keep their finals hopes alive.
Heathcote would then need to defeat Leitchville-Gunbower in the final round.
With Huntly drawn to play Elmore and White Hills in rounds 17 and 18, there's a possibility that LBU, Leitchville-Gunbower, Huntly and Heathcote could finish the season on the same points.
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