A desperate try in the final seconds has given CSU victory and knocked the Dubbo Kangaroos out of the Central West Rugby Union colts competition for 2016.
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The Roos led 17-13 with 60 seconds left on the clock at No.1 Oval but came under plenty of pressure from the university students, who eventually found a gap for Ethan Kelly to burrow through.
CSU will now go on to meet the Mudgee Wombats in Forbes next week, while the Roos are left to contemplate a successful season that ended in a cruel defeat.
Dubbo assistant coach Michael Hollow said he was proud of his players despite the loss.
“It’s tough when we worked so hard. We started the season with a new team including players who hadn’t played rugby before but we trained and coached hard to finish the regular season in second spot,” he said.
“Unfortunately the finals were a lot tougher and both finals games were close losses.
“At the end of the day they left nothing in the tank so I am proud of them.”
CSU coach Robert Danelon said he was getting used to his team giving him making him sit through some nail-biting matches.
“It’s been heart stopping for the last few weeks. We’ve been trying to build some momentum with the small squad we’ve got and showing the fighting spirit we’ve got.
“We wen’t close against the [Bathurst] Bulldogs. We were close to knocking the very deserving minor premiers off and that gave them a belief.
“They didn’t give up today and that’s what this team is all about.”
The students opened the scoring through rugby league convert Matthew Allen before the Roos levelled the scores through Tom Parish.
A penalty goal for Daniel Donato gave the visitors a 10-7 lead at the break.
Donato extended the lead after the break with a field goal before a try to Roos prop Tuppi Taekata closed the gap to one. Dubbo hit the lead with five minutes remaining through Jake Scott on the sideline but the missed goal kept CSU in the hunt.
The small but vocal section of CSU supporters came to life as the students went on the attack and after sustained pressure, Ethan Kelly was the man to score.
"Our forward pack was led well today by Tim Serakai and Ethan Kelly, those boys were busted injury-wise but they kept going. In the backs they were well lead by captain Nick Plunkett and Joseph Gold, our inside centre,” Danelon said.
"It's all about momentum. The last three weeks, four weeks we have been building on that momentum and we just have to keep building because next week we have Mudgee at Forbes.
"We have a few things to work on but in essence I'm very happy with the structures we are working on.”