The Griffith Black and Whites took a very narrow victory in their Group 20 match-up, with both teams staying roughly neck-and-neck until the final moments of the game.
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The game was tough for both sides, with both teams often coming within just a few precious metres from the try line before fumbling the ball.
The game started off poorly for the Griffith team, giving up two tries to the Tigers and struggling to make any headway for the majority of the first half. The Tigers converted both tries, giving them a 12 point lead for the first 25 minutes and leaving the Black and Whites playing a desperate game of catch-up.
With 15 minutes to go in the first half, the Black and Whites finally began making their comeback, making a try but failing to convert it. They got their next two tries with just minutes to go but only made one conversion, leaving the first half with 14 points to the Tigers 12.
Tensions were high with a truly alarming number of penalties, coming to a head with a shoving match between a number of players that was quickly broken up, and the game moving swiftly on from there.
The second half proved similar, losing a number of tries to the Tigers and coming agonisingly close to landing their own before being shut down. An impressive sprint from Semi Rauluni seemed to finally wake the Black and Whites up, picking up the energy with some well-played feints and balancing the scores.
With only a few minutes left on the clock, the Black and Whites finally took a lead to hold onto but it seems this caused a real morale hit to the Tigers, who swiftly gave up another try. A quick conversion to the Black and Whites landed the final score at a hard-fought 30-20.
Coach for the Black and Whites Uafu Lavaka said that it was far from their best game, but they were glad to get the win anyway.
"It was an ugly win, but we'll take it. We'll go back to the drawing board, there's a lot to work on ... I'm just glad we got the two points," he said just after the game.
He added that the team would be working on discipline and control.
"Our plays got a bit complacent... just need to be more disciplined."
The victory will contribute to the Black and Whites comfortable second place on the ladder, but won't be enough to take the coveted first position from Leeton.
Meanwhile the Waratahs will have quite a task of drawing themselves back from fifth place but should have an easier go in their next match against the Yenda Blueheelers, currently in sixth position.
The Black and Whites will be playing Darlington Point at Solar Mad stadium before heading to Yenda to tackle the Blueheelers.
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