CENTRE Stuart Halsey was the hero for one under 14s St Pat's side and the villain for another on Friday night when he scored a brilliant individual try with a tick over three minutes left on the clock.
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The Group 10 Junior Rugby League match at Jack Arrow Oval pitted St Pat's White against St Pat's Blue and with a semi-final spot on the line for the victor, the young Saints threw everything they had at the contest.
As the clock ticked down it looked as if Blue would avenge their round one 18-6 loss to White as they held a two-point lead.
But Halsey had other plans.
Ducking into dummy half he caught out the Blue marker defence as he darted down the blindside.
When he planted the ball over the line in the right corner it triggered scenes of celebration from his White team-mates while it was bitter disappointment for the valiant Blues.
"He's one of those kids who can see a gap and knows how to utilise it and that's exactly what he did. He did it at the right time tonight, so I'm a happy coach," St Pat's White coach Tony England said.
While England is delighted his side, a bulk of whom won last season's under 13 grand final, remains in contention for another title, he also paid tribute to St Pat's Blue.
It is the second year in succession a White win in a St Pat's derby has ended Blue's season.
"It was a great game of football between these two teams, I just loved it," England said.
"We moved from both ends of the field and there was a lot of defensive work done by both teams, so to come away with the victory in such a close game, we're over the moon.
"The winner tonight made the semi-finals and we played the Blue side last year to see who would go into the grand final, so we're just very evenly matched sides.
"It's a great club, the sportsmanship is there, and it's great to see them go so hard at each other.
"There are some excellent footballers in there for Blue, Reegan Stait, Riley Hancock, he's another great player, young Dave Elvy is another great player.
"We got away tonight just through attrition, it's what it comes down to."
It's a great club, the sportsmanship is there, and it's great to see them go so hard at each other.
- Tony England
With rain falling for the start of the final round match, both sides struggled to hold onto the slippery football at times in the opening quarter.
But handling errors aside, the physicality and determination from both sides was certainly not lacking.
A desperate ankle tap from White lock Bryce Fisher halted Blue prop Caleb Bunning in the fifth minute after he punched through the defensive line, while in turn Blue second rower Reegan Stait made some crunching tackles to inspire his team-mates.
Stait and his second rower partner Riley Hancock were strong in attack as well and helped Blue enjoy the territorial advantage in the first quarter, yet the sides went to break locked at nil-all.
Two minutes into the second quarter Blue broke that deadlock. From an attacking scrum feed 20 metres out, Stait drifted left and with a fend forced his way over the line to make it 4-0.
However, Blue put their kick-off out on the full to get the second half underway then were penalised for stripping the ball to gift White good attacking position.
Fullback Sam Clarke took advantage as he crossed and with Jack Branda's conversion, White led 6-4.
While they were now behind on the scoreboard, Blue renewed their efforts.
It took a good hands from Halsey to pick up a threatening Stait grubber, while moments later Branda made a superb one-on-one tackle to hold Joey Farr up over the line.
Three minutes into the final quarter Blue was back in the lead as Wyatt Loughlin crossed in the left corner.
As the rain got heavier it looked as if Blue would take the last spot in the top four, but White was able to work its way into an attacking position.
Halsey then came up with a piece of magic to score and after Branda nailed the sideline conversion there was only one minute, 13 seconds left on the clock.
White held on in that remaining time to win 12-8 and join minor premiers Bloomfield, Mudgee Dragons and Orange CYMS in the top four who will now play sudden death semi-finals.
White will meet Bloomfield in their semi-final at 12.15pm Saturday at Jack Arrow Oval.
"That puts us against Bloomfield and they're going to be a very, very tough team to beat because they are a cracker of a team, so we'll see how we go," England said.
