WESTERN Rams have been denied a place in the Country Championships senior league tag finals by just a single try in an otherwise memorable campaign at Yass.
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The Rams brought down both Riverina Bulls and Monaro Colts in narrow victories at the Southern Championship Carnival before going down 14-10 to the Greater Southern Stars in their last pool game.
Bathurst was well represented in the Rams squad and one of the team's go-to players, Michelle Somers, said the Western women fought well against quality opponents.
"It was probably the first time a lot of the girls have played together but they really stepped up," she said.
"I think we just ran out of legs there towards the end and unfortunately they were just that one try too far ahead for us."
St Pat's representatives in the Rams side scored every single point for their team across the campaign.
Bronte Emanuel's try and a Somers conversion was enough to get the Rams home 6-4 against the Bulls in a defence-orientated meeting.
Somers' two conversions made the difference in the Rams' 12-10 win against the Colts, where she added the extras to Erin Naden and Meredith Jones tries.
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In the loss to the Stars the Rams got their points through Naden and Somers tries but it wasn't enough to reel back their opponents.
Western went down two tries early in their final game but lifted in the second half to push the Stars to their limit.
Greater Southern were also victorious in the under 16s competition, where Western endured a tougher campaign.
Given the close scores for the senior Rams side across the tournament it's of little surprise to hear Somers call the matchups entertaining contests.
"In all three games the skill level was quite even. Every team had good kickers, there were three or four players who were quite quick and we matched up well there," she said.
"Our defence was our big key. We worked on that a fair bit at training during the week.
"Our attack lacked a little bit but that's something that comes with the amount of time that we had together."
The Rams senior and under 16s teams may not have topped their Southern pools but Somers believes the results bode well for the future of league tag in the area.
"Our combinations started to form after that first game on the left and right. Our fullback, Erin Naden, was pushing through and she was fantastic through all three games," she said
"A couple of injuries might have killed us in that last game but overall those combinations built up and you could see the confidence lifting on the paddock.
"The standard's improving each year and each group in the Western division is coming closer together. Western's one of the biggest regions in the competition so being able to go up against sides able to train two or three times a week is amazing.
"Sixteen's will be a good feeder for this competition over the coming years so Western will continue to be a good contender."
Stars move on this Saturday to face the Central Coast Roosters in the Country Championships final.
The under 16s final will be between Greater Northern Tigers and the Stars.