Yenda Blueheelers 22

THE Leeton Greens have landed the first psychological blow before the Group 20 finals, with a Clinton Green penalty on the bell giving his side a home semi-final and a win over their opponents in the first round of the post-season.

The Blueheelers had their chances late when five-eighth Chris Richards took two shots at a field goal from right in front, including one off his non-preferred left foot.

But it was the right boot of Green that sparked wild celebrations from his teammates, with coach Brad Purtell saying his side was lucky to get away with the win given how slanted the penalty count was.

"We made it a bit hard for ourselves there at times but the boys played really well this afternoon because they had their chances," Purtell said.

"They were ridiculous penalties (by us) and they were as clear as day. You start raking at the ball and in the wet weather, you have to be careful because the refs are already looking for anything like that."

Yenda coach Andrew Lavaka tipped his hat to Leeton saying they got over the line because they, for the most part, converted possession into points.

"To be honest we killed ourselves today and Leeton took their chances when they presented themselves, they were the better side when they had the ball and scored when they had to.

"Our defence is great we can defend all over the paddock, but when you defend all day then its; not going to help us because they're Leeton) going to have most of the ball.

"When we do have it then we have a lot of guys that can score tries from all over the paddock, but Leeton were too good today."

With the clash taking only the feel of finals football come a week early, the visitors to Wade Park grabbed the lead when representative forward Luke Thompson crashed over out wide.

But the Blueheelers hit back straight away when Kolo Lomu continued his scintillating try-scorer form this season, but a knock-on from the restart by David Rauluni Jnr allowed Leeton to again grab the lead 10-4