Castlemaine kicked its highest score in eight years in a 147-point win over the BFNL's bottom side Maryborough at Princes Park on Saturday.
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Castlemaine won 26.20 (176) to 4.5 (29) - its best total and winning margin since defeating Maryborough 33.21 (219) to 6.7 (43) in round 15, 2016.
Coach Michael Hartley kicked nine goals for Castlemaine and midfielders Ryan Eyre, Zavier Murley and Bailey Henderson had the ball on a string.
While Saturday's Golden Square-Eaglehawk result didn't help Castlemaine's bid to play finals, importantly the 147-point win did lift its percentage from 85.21 to 105.68.
"We would have liked to kick a few more goals, but we kicked a few too many behinds,'' Hartley said.
"We wanted to respect Maryborough as much as we could, but at the same time we needed to get a good result in terms of for and against if we wanted to put our hand up for finals. It was good to get a good win."
Hartley spent most of the day forward and kicked 9.6.
"I missed a few, so I was pretty upset at myself,'' Hartley said.
Eyre, who is on Essendon's VFL list, has impressed in three games for Castlemaine.
The former Calder Cannon did plenty of damage through the middle of the ground and he kicked three goals.
"He's a very good player for us,'' Hartley said of Eyre.
"He can play the game and he's a very good young fella at the same time.
"He gave us a lot of drive and he has such a penetrating kick. For a young guy he has a bigger body, which is good for us."
Murley and Henderson set up many of Castlemaine's forward thrusts.
"Zavier was clean with his hands and his ball use was very good,'' Hartley said.
"Bailey was just Bailey. He showed why he's one of the best players in the competition."
Maryborough's injury-stricken list forced co-coach Matt Johnston to pull the boots on.
Johnston wound back the clock by kicking three of his side's four goals.
Maryborough's key senior quartet - co-coach Coby Perry, Alex Brown, Kya Lanfranchi and Joel Swatton - did their best to limit the damage.
After trailing by 99 points at the main break, Maryborough was far more competitive in the second-half in a 9.13 to 3.1 scoreline.
Hartley admitted his side's path to make the finals had become tougher, but he was confident the Pies would finish the season strongly.
"We're going to give it a red hot crack,'' Hartley said.
"If we can string a few wins together anything is possible, we're excited about the challenge."
