RHYS Power admits there were a 'few tears' in his eye on Saturday afternoon, but rather than being tears of disappointment, they were tears of pride for the CSU coach.
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Power had watched his Mungoes come from a 10-0 deficit at Oberon Sportsground in the Mid West League Cup major semi-final to beat the Tigers 14-10.
Not only did CSU become the first side this season to beat Oberon, but the win means they will also get to host the Mid West grand final day at Diggings Oval for the second consecutive season.
"It's a very, very good feeling, it was a proud moment for me, a proud Dad moment, a few little tears at the end, it was very good," Power said.
After upsetting the Cargo Heelers at Cargo in week one of the finals, the Mungoes headed to Oberon hoping to spring another surprise.
While the Tigers scored twice in the opening quarter as they looked to extend their unbeaten run, Power said he was not nervous to have his men trailing 10-0.
He had faith that the Mungoes could find a reply and that's what they did.
CSU crossed twice in the second quarter to claw their way back to 10-8 at half-time and as they backed themselves to spread the ball wide in attack on a warm day, it fatigued the Tigers.
"I wasn't worried, at no point did I think 'We're gone here'. Even when we were 10-0 down it wasn't really a worry for me. They scored one try off a blindside play and the other one came off a kick," the coach said.
"That second quarter we came out and scored two quick ones.
"We made a few little adjustments in how we wanted to play and the boys came out and muscled up defensively. We moved the Oberon side around the park a bit more than we did the first time we played them and I think the hotter weather was probably a bit more in our favour than Oberon's favour.
"I think our fitness showed in the end, I think that's what got us over the line. I mean Oberon has got some very good forwards, some nice, big, tough forwards. But if you're moving them sideways and they have to do lot more tackling than they are used too, they are going to tire quicker in that sort of weather."
In the third quarter CSU continued to press for the lead and while that period came and went without any addition to the scoreline, the Mungoes did work their way into a good attacking position for the commencement of the final quarter.
Then came the try that put the defending champions into their fourth grand final in as many years.
"We got tackled on the fourth tackle like 20 metres out on three-quarter-time. We then moved a couple of blokes around, we put Wicksy [Braydon Wicks] into hooker and Adam Booth back to fullback," Power said.
"We then came out in the fourth quarter and it was literally the first play, it was the fifth tackle in the set and Wicksy put a little banana kick through and it was Adam Booth that dived on it in front, sort of two metres to the right of the sticks.
"They didn't score any points in the final three quarters, so that was a bit of a win for us.
"We've done the hard work now and I think we're coming good at the right time of the season."
In the minor semi-final Orange United upset Cargo 26-24.