A LINE break, a 30-metre run and a try between the posts - it was that moment of individual brilliance from Cooper Naylor which helped the under 12 St Pat's Blue side avoid elimination on Saturday.
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Pat's coach Michael Clarke felt it was his big play in the first quarter of their Group 10 Junior Rugby League elimination semi-final against Bloomfield which set up their 18-10 victory.
"Without Cooper being there and putting that first try on, I think we would have been down. But having Cooper there, telling the boys what they should be doing it really helped," Clarke said.
While Naylor was ultra impressive and had more line breaks to his credit by the time the final whistle sounded at Tony Luchetti Sportsground, it took a strong performance from all the Saints to better Bloomfield.
It was a performance which, should the rest of the finals series go ahead, has Clarke confident his Saints can further advance.
"Bloomfield, they are a handy side and they beat us during the main season, so we were coming into it knowing they had a strong side," Clarke said. "But the boys knew their job and they did well sticking to that.
"Now they've seen they can make it through the first week of semis, I one hundred percent think they can make it the whole way, they'll know they can do it. That was a massive win for us."
The match provided excitement from the opening play as St Pat's second rower Max Meredith made a line break from the kick-off then the Saints earned back-to-back penalties.
But Bloomfield held out their rivals and when they got their chance, created a three-player overlap which saw Kye Davis - who showcased a nice left-foot step - score.
It was with just over seven minutes gone that Naylor produced his magic moment to give Pat's a 6-4 quarter-time lead.
Both sides added another try to their tally in the second period - Chayne Brown scoring for the Tigers and Archie Graham for the Saints - to see the boys in blue and white leading 12-10 at half-time.
The third quarter began with another 30-metre Naylor run and fullback Tyler Kelleher also had a line break, while for the Tigers five-eighth Sam Hill threw some superb passes and looked a danger every run.
There was a nervous moment for the Saints when Braydon Bouffler nearly pulled off an intercept for the Tigers, but the ball went to ground.
The sealer for the Saints came via Riley Murphey, Harvey Press converting to make it 18-10.
ST PAT'S BLUE 18 (Cooper Naylor, Archie Graham, Riley Murphey tries; Kai Naylor, Cooper Naylor, Harvey Press goals) defeated BLOOMFIELD TIGERS 10 (Kye Davis, Chayne Brown tries; Sam Hill goal)
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