Group 20 left it late to claim victory over local rivals Group Nine but were able to get over the line in the Riverina trial clash with a 12-10 win at Solar Mad Stadium on Saturday.
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The Group Nine side was able to make a good start to the game and after both teams traded sets of sixes early were finally able to get across the try line.
It was Rebeka Lally who was able to find space out wide to cross in the corner, and after the successful conversion from Emily Parrot, the visitors lead 6-0.
On the brink of halftime, it was Group 20 who were able to break their duck. Quick thinking from Amelia Lolotonga saw her pick the ball up and after the quick play the ball caught the Group Nine defence unaware and after a quick dart from dummy half and running into the space available she was over.
The home side went into the break trailing 6-4 however as Rachael Pearson missed the conversion.
The message from Group 20 coach Sam Loaloadravu was to keep their heads high.
“The good thing about it is while Group nine did score the early points, the confidence was there,” he said.
“The girls believed in each other and stuck together.”
The second half started much like the first and while the Group 20 side looked threatening it was Group Nine who were able to hit on the counter.
After a floating pass was intercepted by the Group Nine defence and the play resulted in former Group 20 player Jess McDonell scoring to push the visitors lead out to 10-4 after Parrot missed the conversion.
Group 20 refused to give in as Lily Belle Misiloi, fresh of a grand final win last weekend, was able to get around the Group Nine defence to score next to the post and with Pearson finding her radar and kicking the ball over the black dot the scores were locked at 10-10.
The Razorbacks were given a golden opportunity to take the lead with seven minutes to go as the Group Nine defence were caught offside just 20 metres out from their own line.
Pearson stepped up to the mark and slotted it through to give the Group 20 the lead for the first time in the game, and they were able to hold on to take the win.
Loaloadravu praised the way his side tried to control the game.
“We controlled the ball really well,” he said.
“Once we started giving them too much possession that's when they got away from us. Once we started to control the ball that made it a different story and we were able to come away with the win.”
Loaloadravu felt the experience most of his players had from playing in the finals made a real difference when leadership was needed.