The 13-10 defeat was a hard pill to swallow for the Blue Bulls after they led 7-0 at the main break.

A penalty 10 metres from Central West’s line gave Illawarra the opportunity to steal the vital win on Saturday.

Illawarra’s fullback Don Nepia from the University club had no problem slotting the ball right between the sticks for the three-point victory.

McRobert and his players were left gutted at full-time.

“It’s disappointing now, it hurts,” the Blue Bulls mentor said.

“No team should lose a game that way, it doesn’t matter if it is Central West, Illawarra or the Wallabies. We did today and we will be there [in Kanwal] next week, showing what it means to be a Blue Bull.”

Central West will play in the lower half of the Country Championships for the Richardson Shield while the Warriors advance to the Caldwell Cup. McRobert said discipline had hurt his side.

“When we came together on January 15 we said to the boys we wanted pride, attitude and discipline,” McRobert said.

“And just today, the discipline let us down today. The pride in the jumper and the attitude of the players has been fantastic all the way through and it was evident out there today.”

Down at half-time, Illawarra coach Sean Barrett rallied his troops to lift in the second stanza.

“We were very specific at half-time about what we needed to do,” Barrett said.

“We probably didn’t play our position as well, our kicking game wasn’t as good, we didn’t profit from that at all. In the second half we did.

“We started to tire and made a few substitutions and the guys from the bench gave us a lot of energy, which was quite good. That’s what you want from your bench players.”

The Blue Bulls could have taken an early 3-0 lead but Ray Lange’s 45-metre effort bounced back off the crossbar.

Nepia also had an opportunity to put his team in front, but the windy conditions pushed his kick to the left of the uprights.

Central West had the possession for the majority of the opening 15 minutes.

Their constant pressure paid off when Dubbo Rhinos’ flanker Sam Finau found a gap and sliced through to score the first try.

Illawarra had an opportunity to hit back soon after when flyhalf Ben Greentree made some room, but John Maumau spilled the final pass over the sideline.

The visitors pummelled the Blue Bulls’ defensive line in the final 10 minutes of the first half, but Central West took the beating and led at half-time lead.

Illawarra got the first points of the second half through a penalty goal.

From there, the match turned into a scrappy encounter as ill-discipline and errors crept in.

Neither side used the ball to their advantage.

Midway through the half, Blue Bulls winger Joseph Nash burned his opposite number and found plenty of room.

He was brought down by Nepia, but the referee said it was a high shot and awarded a penalty. Lange stepped up and made no mistake to give his team a 10-3 lead.

A few minutes later, Central West fullback Phil Tonkin dropped a high ball and the Warriors took full advantage.

Leon Mason made a break down the eastern touch line and linked with his namesake Ashley for a try in the corner.

Nepia kicked the conversion from the sideline to make it 10-all.

The try lifted the Warriors, but again errors and ill-discipline prevented any further points.

With extra-time looming, both teams were scrambling for field position to set up for a drop goal.

However, a penalty to Illawarra after the full-time siren gave the Warriors one last crack and Nepia made it count.

“I told these guys we will win it in the last 10 minutes,” Barrett said.

“We just stuck at it, stuck at it, stuck at it and just ground into it. The last five minutes we probably played down at the right end of the paddock.”

Despite missing their chance at playing in the Caldwell Cup, McRobert said his boys would bounce back and give the Richardson Shield a huge shake.

“These guys are good enough to win it, good enough to win the Country Championships, but you know, we were beaten on the bell here today and a cruel way to do it, we are in the bottom half of the draw and we have to make the best of it,” McRobert said.

“They are very strong [there’s], a lot of character and a lot of pride in the group and we will have no trouble.

“Andrew Swain was outstanding. Sam Finau, when he was on the field in the early part of the game was great. Peter Nau and Junior Manase were outstanding up front.”

ILLAWARRA WARRIORS 13 (Ashley Mason try; Don Nepia conversion, 2 penalty goals) defeated CENTRAL WEST BLUE BULLS 10 (Sam Finau try; Ray Lange conversion, penalty goal).