Camden Rams and Picton Magpies put on epic Group Six final for the ages

A FIELD goal after almost 100 minutes of play was all that separated Camden and Picton in the Country Rugby League Group 6 qualifying final on Sunday, at Kirkham Park, Elderslie.

Chris Brown's match winning field goal. Group six rugby league finals week 1 Camden Rams (white blue and red) v Picton (black and white) First grade qualification final at Camden

A FIELD goal after almost 100 minutes of play was all that separated Camden and Picton in the Country Rugby League Group 6 qualifying final on Sunday, at Kirkham Park, Elderslie.

Picton held a narrow 20-14 lead over the Rams with 13 minutes to play.

With seconds remaining on the clock, Camden forward Ben Weir scored adjacent to the posts to tie the game at 20-all and send it to golden point extra-time.

Rams halfback Chris Browne spurned a chance to win the game with a relatively easy penalty goal attempt three minutes into the first half of extra-time.

However, Browne went from villain to hero when he kicked a match-winning one-pointer from 40m out on an acute angle.

The drop goal shattered the Magpies, who face a sudden-death shootout against Narellan. Camden meet minor premiers Mittagong for a spot in the grand final.

Chris Brown's match winning field goal. Group six rugby league finals week 1 Camden Rams (white blue and red) v Picton (black and white) First grade qualification final at Camden

A strong crowd turned up to see the first-grade ­double-header.

Camden coach Mitch Newton said he was relieved to get the victory.

“I was glad we were able to stay with a classy outfit like Picton,” Newton said.

He also said he was surprised when Browne missed the penalty attempt.

Camden rejoice over Chris Brown's match winning field goa l while defeat sinks in for Picton. Group six rugby league finals week 1 Camden Rams (white blue and red) v Picton (black and white) First grade qualification final at Camden

“He’s been kicking well this season, but I was relieved when the field goal went over,” he said.

Picton coach Gary Dowse was frustrated with the simple errors his team made.

Meanwhile, Narellan’s season remains alive, after a come-from-behind 40-28 win over Appin, also at ­Kirkham Park.

Narellan coach Daryn Fallshaw was pleased with the win.

“The side is a bit banged up but we’ll keep going,” he said. “We’ve got a tough ­assignment ahead of us this weekend.”

Fallshaw said Rocky Trimarchi would return for next week’s clash with Picton, and said the Magpies “played in a high-quality game” against Camden.