The CSU Mustards rugby union side got the better of their Mungoes league university mates 22-20 on Wednesday night in a hard-fought game played at Diggings Oval as a charity fixture.

In front of a healthy crowd of several hundred spectators, the match – raising money for the Black Dog Institute – gave the Mustards a consolation prize after they missed the Central West Rugby finals.

With the match finishing at four tries apiece, the Centennial Coal Cup champion Mungoes squad were left to rue missed conversions and not being unable to make the most of having the majority of possession in the back half of the match.

It was the union boys who enjoyed the stronger start to the game, which was played in the unusual format of 20-minute thirds.

The Mustards’ Jackson Margosis and the Mungoes’ Callum McGregor exchanged tries early before the Mustards started to enjoy the better field position.

Tom Keft eventually found a gap to score by the uprights and give the Mustards a 12-4 lead at the end of the first third.

The Mungoes started the middle third pinned in their own half. 

After a Mustards penalty for an offside Mungoes, Jack Gunther recovered a loose pass to score down the right wing and take the lead out to 14 points.

Errors started creeping more frequently into the Mustards’ ranks from that point on.

Mitch Pani scored for the Mungoes after back-to-back sets, before another Mustards error in their own half allowed Andrew McIlveen to find space down the left to score.

Tom McDevitt’s conversion got the score back to 18-14 going into the final third of the match.

The Mungoes thought they had levelled it midway through the last third when the ball was loose in the Mustards’ in-goal, but it was deemed to have been grounded by the defence.

After back-to-back goal line drop outs for the union squad, the Mungoes were still unable to crack the try line.

Margosis punished the men in yellow for that, as a rare moment of Mustards possession allowed him to score his second.

A great solo effort from the Mungoes’ Tom Adams in the dying seconds allowed his team one final chance from the kick-off, but it was the Mustards who claimed the spoils.

CSU rugby club captain Keft said his team did a great job at holding off a very determined Mungoes attack after the game turned against the Mustards in the final two thirds.

“It was a very tough side and they were missing a couple of key players like Brad Dewar. We’re stoked, though. The boys worked very hard for it. Obviously, there was that lapse in concentration there in that second third, but it was that on-line defence that was great for us,” he said.

Keft said the match’s turnout and build-up made for a great occasion for the university.

“I’m hoping I could come back in 10 years time and still see this thing going. Over my time here the rivalry between the clubs has kind of changed. It’s gone from in my first year here to being a pure hatred of each other to being a healthy rivalry,” he said.

“Days like this are helping with that. Everyone wants to come out and dominate each other, but at the end of the day we’re happy to be playing together and raising money for a good cause.”

CSU MUSTARDS 22 (Jackson Margosis 2, Tom Keft, Jack Gunther tries; Tennyson Vance 3 conversions) defeated CSU MUNGOES 20 (Callum McGregor, Mitch Pani, Andrew McIlveen, Tom Adams tries; Tom McDevitt, Matt Trainor conversions)