"WE sort of handed it to them with a golden ribbon around it at the end of the game."
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Those were the words of a disappointed Rhys Power, the CSU coach having watched his side concede a try to the Cargo Heelers in the final seconds of Saturday's Mid West League Cup match to suffer a 26-24 loss.
While CSU's performance at Cargo Oval was well below their best, an Ethan Kennedy try with four minutes to go gave the Mungoes a four-point lead.
It was a lead they were unable to hold on to.
"We scored with like four minutes to go which put us up 24-20. Then they kicked off, we kicked it out on the full, then we defended well for four tackles but gave away an off-side penalty on that fourth tackle and their experienced players marched down the field and put it to bed," Power said.
"I reckon that is one of the worst games I've seen the Mungoes play in the last 10 years, so to go down by only two given that I guess is probably a good thing.
"But you can't give away penalties and you can't throw the ball on the ground, you can't kick the ball out as many times as we did and win a game of footy. It was definitely a coach killer game for sure.
"We did well to score as many points as we did."
Both CSU and Cargo went into the round four match undefeated and the Mungoes made a bright start when prop Zac Leach-Deahm crossed.
"It was his second try in five years, it's not often a front-rower scores the first try of the game," Power said.
Winger Lachlan Balcombe scored a double for CSU in the first half, but he suffered a leg injury which saw him take no further part in the contest.
Things remained tight heading into the final quarter and when Cargo booted a penalty goal from in front of the sticks with seven minutes to go, the score was locked up at 20-all.
Cargo then knocked on from the kick-off to gift the Mungoes a set in good attacking position. Kennedy crossed to give the visitors the lead at 24-20.
However, the Heelers still had fight left in them. They produced a brilliant defensive set after kicking off and kept CSU inside their own 30.
The Mungoes kicked the ball out on the full, conceded another penalty soon after and with 30 seconds left on the clock, Dan Madden crashed over next to the posts.
The straight-forward conversion followed and gave Cargo a two-point win.
"Our defence was unreal again, our line speed was awesome, but we just didn't get the chocolates in the end. We gift wrapped it and give it to them," Power said.
While disappointed with how his team performed, Power was full of praise for the Heelers.
"They were good, they were real good. They are the definition of a really good bush footy team," he said.
"It's been a long time since they've played a team with that calibre of footballers, they were an awesome bush footy team. They're experienced, they're tough, they're smart, they back themselves. Full credit to them, they were the better team on the day."
