Penrith District Rugby League: Colyton grand final bound, finals wrap

After a miracle start, the Colyton Colts’ dream of a miracle grand final appearance seemed assured. But after a send off and a stunning comeback, Windsor had other ideas. Finals wrap.

Colyton halfback Jayden Murphy-Hinton landed in hot water during his side’s upset victory over Windsor at The Kingsway. Photographer: Warren Gannon Photography

They’re the official Don Feltis Cup giant killers. Now after knocking over premiership heavyweights Windsor, the Colyton Colts are set to contest their first A-grade grand final in more than 20 years.

In short, Colyton upset the Wolves 34-28. But for Colts coach Scott Thompson, the full story was a 90-minute extra-time epic from the Cardiac Kings’ top shelf.

Having survived additional time a week earlier against St Clair, Colyton went from grand final hopefuls to absolute certainties on the hour when winger Keegan McGrann struck out wide to open a 16-point lead.

From there, some push and shove in the in-goal saw both sides reduced to 12. Windsor’s Jamie Davison was ordered to cool down for 10 minutes, while Colts halfback Jayden Murphy-Hinton was sent off for an alleged headbutt.

With Colyton rocking, in the absence of injured playmaker Connor Mason, Windsor go-to man Tori Willie quickly unloaded a full bag of tricks. In a blistering nine minutes, the star No.6 orchestrated three tries and then lined up to kick the match winning conversion with three minutes remaining.

The sideline attempt sailed wide, and with it, Windsor’s dream of back-to-back grand final appearances.

With an allotted 10 minutes of extra time, the Wolves had their chances to break the 28-all deadlock, but it would prove to be Colyton’s day.

And once again it was McGrann. With numbers on the left, he latched onto a James Ross pass to send the Colyton celebrations into overdrive.

There was still seven minutes to play, but this time a 12-man Colts held firm to book a spot in the decider alongside minor premiership winners Emu Plains.

Colyton winger Keegan McGrann struck two crucial blows against Windsor. Photographer: Warren Gannon Photography

“I wasn’t happy at the end of regulation time,” Thompson said.

“I gave the boys a spray, we worked hard for the first hour and then started to watch the clock in the final 20 minutes.

“But to win in extra-time with 12 men was a big effort. We won in extra time the week before, so we knew what we had to do.”

And dealing in one-point increments wasn’t on the agenda as Colyton battled to secure the club’s first A-grade grand final appearance since 2000.

“Our goal was to score a try, we weren’t interested in kicking a field goal,” said Thompson. “One-point can be difficult to defend, the plan was to keep shifting the ball early and back ourselves.

Tori Willie orchestrated an impressive Windsor comeback. Picture: Warren Gannon Photography

“Keegan was pretty emotional afterwards. It’s his first full season of A-grade and he’s still only 22.”

In a whirlwind of emotions, Thompson reflected on a hectic opening 25 minutes that saw his side jump to a commanding 22-0 lead.

“James Ross threw the final pass for both Keegan tries. He was one of our best, he got us moving from the outset with a stack of big carries,” the coach said.

“Prop Leo Tupe was outstanding too. He normally comes off the bench, but he was grinning from ear-to-ear when I told him he was starting. He’s hard to handle and scored our first try.”

The victory was the icing on the cake for Colyton. Earlier in the day in under-19s, the Colts overcame a 10-0 deficit to upset St Marys 30-16, and now face St Clair in the grand final.