The Griffith Blacks have extended their undefeated streak to three games after a nail-biting win over local rivals the Phantoms on Saturday afternoon.
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Heading into the final 20 minutes, the Blacks were holding a narrow two-point advantage after a try to David Serukai, but the Phantoms refused to back down from the fight.
Kelevi Ralulu restored the advantage for the visiting side after breakthrough the Blacks defensive line to score under the post and with a successful conversion from Semi Rokodinono to Phantoms held a 27-22 advantage with under 10 minutes remaining.
The Blacks showed they had one trick left up their sleeve after Emanuel Butack was able to step around the Phantoms defence and score under the post and thanks to a successful conversion from Serukai the home side were up by two points.
While Blacks coach Craig Morriss was pleased with his side's performance, he knows there is still room for improvement.
"It was pretty tight in the end. We didn't do ourselves any favours with the penalties and the ball control, but they were able to stick to it and get the win," he said.
"They had to dig deep, and they did. It was a pretty physical game with two big forward backs going at it, but it was a great win, and it keeps us alive."
The aspect which pleased Morriss the most was the fact his side were able to grind out the win which was something they hadn't been able to do when in strong position against the bigger teams earlier in the season.
"The middle we stood tall after half time, and we came out and put a couple of tries on them which I thought was good,"
"The boys have a bit of grit now, and a bit of belief so let's see where it takes us."
The win sees the Blacks stay in the hunt for finals but will need to keep the momentum going if they want to get to the business end of the season.
"It is backs to the walls for us and each week improves us," he said.
"We have a lot of work to do, but if we keep ticking the small things off, we will get to the point where we will have a good side."
The Blacks will travel to Wagga to take on City next weekend.
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