Coolah Kangaroos have booked their spot in the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League Grand Final after a thrilling 29-28 win over Coonabarabran Unicorns at Coonabarabran Sports Ground on Saturday.
The Kangaroos wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard after second-rower Austin Burgess cleaned up a grubber kick that rebounded off the opposition to score in the third minute.
A Brad Pickering 40/20 kick 10 minutes later gave the Roos great field position which they duly converted to points when a slick long pass from Chanse Burgess put his winger Jacob Medd over in the corner to leave the visitors looking good at 10-0.
The Unicorns needed to score next, and they did just that after some good ball movement saw their fullback Sam Pickette touch down.
That effort was quickly cancelled out when Burgess was hit the defensive line from close range before swivelling over for another Coolh try to extend the lead to 16-4.
With half-time looming the home side were desperate to bridge the gap on the scoreboard, and Unicorns lock Nick Willoughby answered the call after dashing over to score a much-needed try. The conversion was successful to leave Coolah in front at the break 16-10.
It took just two minutes of the second half for the Unicorns to level things up after getting the ball back from the kick off and from the ensuing set their centre Josh Nixon was able to score. Willoughby’s sideline conversion sailed over to level the score up at 16-all.
The ‘Roos responded when another pass from Burgess – this time a clever short offload while he stood in a tackle – saw Bradley Ellis spear over for a try to take a four-point lead.
Play moved from one end to the other until a Unicorns attacking raid saw centre Eddie Kuras breach the Coolah defensive line to score a converted try and put his side in front 22-20.
The Unicorns were on top but that came to an end when Burgess barged over for his second try to put the Kangaroos back up 26-22.
A break from inside his own half by Unicorns halfback Nash Walker saw him transfer the ball to Nixon, who sprinted over to score and put the blue and golds in front 28-26.
That set the scene for a final frantic finish with the Kangaroos landing a penalty goal with five minutes remaining to lock the teams up again at 28-all.
With just thirty seconds to go it looked as though the game was headed for extra time when a Coolah player held up over the line.
However, he quickly retreated the ten metres to play the ball and with the Unicorns defence looking to extinguish a likely Pickering field goal attempt, the ball instead found its way to Jake Hawkins whose wobbly effort just squeezed inside the left upright with two seconds remaining.
The Kangaroos had secured an incredible 29-28 win and an opportunity to make it three premierships in a row when they meet Cobar Roosters in the Grand Final next Saturday.
In the earlier games, Cobar Roosters Youth League side did not get ahead of their Narromine Jets opponents until the final five minutes of the match at which point a converted try edged them ahead 26-22.
They were then forced to desperately defend that four-point lead as the Jets threw everything at them including a last second effort that saw a Narromine player bundled into touch only centimetres away from scoring. The Roosters will take on Coonabarabran in the Grand Final.
A strong 28-12 win by Coolah Flyers over Narromine Jets saw them set up a Grand Final battle with Dunedoo Swannettes in next Saturday’s premiership decider.
The grand finals will be played at Cobar next Saturday with the Youth League grand final kicking off the day’s action at 11am. The League Tag game will follow straight on after the Youth League presentations are concluded with the first grade match starting no earlier than 2pm.
Click here for the Preliminary Final scores from the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League
