THE Crookwell Pups Under 12s team have qualified for the grand final after a tough 27-25 victory against the Goulburn Chiefs on Friday night.
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The Pups played the semi final against the Chiefs on Friday night.
It was the clash of the second and and placed evenly matched sides.
The game started at a quick pace. The Chiefs took the early lead with two tries to take the score to 10-0.
The Pups hit back through a try by Jay Cunningham who was creating havoc for the opposition defence in attacking raids out wide, 10-5 Chiefs lead.
Then a defensive lapse from a clearance kick saw the Chiefs score a crucial try just before half time to take a 15-5 halftime lead.
The Chiefs scored first in the second half to take a 20-5 lead. The match was slipping away from the Pups grasp, but the Pups never say die attitude helped them lift their heads and intensity to hit back with two tries scored by Tyson Allwright in a five minute period, Jack Searl slotted a conversion to make the score 20-17 lead to the Chiefs.
The Pups were next to score after good team lead up work and sustained pressure saw Matthew Seaman score a try in the corner for the Pups to take the lead.
However, the lead was shorted lived with the Chiefs scoring down the blind side in the corner. The lead was back with the Chiefs 25-22.
The Pups then hit back through a storming charge by Tyson Allwright of 60 metres who looked certain to score but was pulled down just short of the try line, however good team backing up secured the ball at the ruck and Jay Cunningham stormed over for the Pups to regain the lead 27-25 with three minutes to play.
The Pups defended their hearts out in the last minutes. The Pups held onto the slim lead for a memorable 27-25 come from behind win.
Josh Evans produced copybook tackles, Charlie Hayes and Emma Page made strong hit ups and retained possession for the team. Josh Thorn and Cody Stewart were stand outs in defence.
Sam Minehan at flanker was on the ball all game and unlucky to be denied a couple of tries. The Pups were missing three players, so the effort was a huge for the team.