It was a feeling of jubilation for coach Sebastian Raciti once the full-time whistle had blown.

“I am absolutely ecstatic for the boys,” he said.

“It is a piece of history for us. Going from the Sydney competitions and winning competitions there to moving to Canberra and the NPL competition and now winning one here is amazing.”

In only there second season in the National Premier League competition the side headed to Canberra looking to make the trip back with the trophy knowing they would have to overcome a tough Belconnen team who finished the regular season on top of the table.

The Rhinos were able to withstand some early pressure from the Belconnen United side and started to create chances however it was the final pass that was letting them down early.

Samuel Scarfone went close to opening the scoring after he was able to get his head to a long ball from captain Samuel Raciti. However, the outstretched Belconnen keeper was able to deny Scarfone of the opening goal.

It was a heart in mouths for Rhinos players and supporters alike when a lunging tackle from Jack Moon saw Belconnen awarded a penalty. However, Nick Capaldi in the Rhinos goal guessed the right way to deny the spot kick with the follow up blasted over.

While being a bit nervous, Raciti had full confidence in his shot-stopper.

“He saved three penalties during the season, and you have to have faith in what they have done before,” he said.

“He did what was expected, and it lifted the rest of the team. Once the penalty had been saved they lifted an extra 10 or 15 per cent.”

While the Rhinos kicked into another gear in the later stages of the first half, it wasn’t quite enough to break the deadlock and the sides headed into the break locked at 0-0.

It was a similar start to the first half with the Rhinos having to withstand an early push from the United side but were once again well and truly up for the challenge.

Samuel Raciti came close to opening the scoring from an Abhishek Sandhu corner. However, the ball floated over the bar, but the Rhinos wouldn’t have to wait long to take the lead.

With 10 minutes to go a strong run from substitute, Jordan Serena saw him able to pick out Dom Galluzzo. However, the shot from Galluzzo was denied by the keeper, but the ball was kept alive.

Galluzzo took a second shot which looked to be drifting wide before Serena followed the ball in to knock it into the back of the net to give the Rhinos a vital 1-0 lead.

It’s not the first time Serena has come off the bench to make an impact. He did the same in the preliminary final last weekend against Gungahlin United.

The goal seemed to give the Rhinos an extra lift into the final 10 minutes of the game, and Alex Dorata came close to extending the Rhinos lead right at the death, but his long-range chip went just over the bar.

The under 18s coach praised the way all eleven players went about their work.

“I said to all of the players in the first eleven that they are there to start the work,” he said.

“If I took them off it wasn’t a negative it was simply they had done their job.

“Whether it was 60 minute or 20, they all went out there to do a job, and they did it well.”

When the final whistle blew the joy was clear to see on the Rhinos players and supporters with 70-80 supporters getting behind the team and making the long trip to Canberra and Raciti appreciated their dedication throughout the season.