Rugby League Central Coast: Wrap, results, standouts from the preliminary final

There were remarkable scenes in a thrilling RLCC preliminary final as an obscure rule decided a never-before-seen situation in local first grade.

Erina progressed through to the grand final after a 24-all draw with Woy Woy. Picture: Sue Graham

Erina has set up a third-straight grand final clash with rivals Toukley after the Eagles played out a thrilling 24-all draw with Woy Woy in the preliminary final at Ted Doyle Oval.

With the scores level after 80 minutes, neither was side was able to break the deadlock during 10 minutes of golden point, with the Eagles progressing on account of having finished the regular season (first) in a higher position than the Roosters (fourth).

The rule has been in place for around a decade, and while a league tag grand final has been decided in this manner, it is understood that this is the first time that a first grade finals match has ended up all square after golden point.

It capped off a seesawing contest, which saw Woy Woy remarkably score two tries in the final four minutes of regular time to overturn a 12-point deficit and send the game to extra time.

In fact, Woy Woy outscored Erina five tries to four, with the perfect boot of Eagles goalkicker Finn Douch – who slotted four from four, including three goals from the sideline – ultimately proving crucial.

The Eagles will move through to the grand final on account of being the highest-ranked team. Picture: Sue Graham

“It’s an old cliche but credit to Woy Woy,” said Erina coach Dane Allen. “They probably only had five opportunities all day and they iced them.

“But we knew that’s how they play. They tend to score tries off the back of our errors and kicks,” he added.

“We had their measure for the most part and then that last 12 minutes we couldn’t seem to get anything go our way. Lo and behold they scored a couple more and evened it up.”

While coughing up a 12-point lead late, Allen was pleased with how his team responded in golden point.

“We played high-percentage footy and just ground it down and the clock ran out. It wasn’t necessarily the plan but no mistakes in those 10 minutes was really important.

“We spoke about that prior to it and thankfully we didn’t come up with any cheap errors and didn’t the turn ball over and give them an opportunity – I don’t even think they had a shot. It was good to win that way.”

Indeed, almost all of the 10 minutes of extra time was played in Woy Woy’s half, with Erina putting two field goal attempts wide as it controlled field position.

Woy Woy was bundled out in heartbreaking circumstances. Picture: Damian Shaw

And while Piepers had one miscued shot from 40m out and then put on a last-ditch chip-and-chase play to try and conjure up some points, the Roosters never had any serious chances in golden point as the Eagles successfully managed the final few minutes.

“We just continued to kick into corners, play it down their end and didn’t give them a chance, which is good,” said Allen.

“It’s an advantage to know that you can park the bus a little bit when it comes to it. There were a couple of opportunities in that last 90 seconds where we could have probably spun it if we were looking for points but the message was to take the tackle and kick into a corner – and that’s what we did. We also ran it on the last and just died in the corner of the field.”

It was perhaps a slightly anticlimactic end to a pulsating game that saw the lead shift multiple times.

It was very much tit for tat in the opening stages, with Piepers putting a beautiful double cut-out ball on the chest of a charging Joseph Williams to give Woy Woy the lead in the 23rd minute, before Erina’s Cameron Davies fired off a bullet pass of his own five minutes later to put winger Ben Taylor over.

Another try a piece saw the Eagles takes a 12-8 lead into the break.

However Woy Woy was putting it to the minor premiers and the team crossed again six minutes into the second half when Piepers put in a clever chip for Williams, who took an excellent catch before doing extremely well to plant the ball down in the corner.

While the Roosters had scored three tries to two, goalkicking meant that scores were locked up at 12-all.

Woy Woy outscored Erina five tries to four. Picture: Sue Graham

From here the young, fit Erina team started to assert its dominance, with a lovely spread to the right and cut-out ball from Riley Burke putting Jack Frasca over out wide, before Davies fed Douch through a gap on the left edge to put the side up 24-12 midway through the half.

And while Erina looked to be home as it surged out to a 12-point lead, Woy Woy came roaring back in the final stages with some remarkable footy to level things up at full-time.

With just four minutes on the clock, Piepers put in a clever grubber for Mason Ward to give his side a fighting chance.

Then in the next set Jessi O’Neill-Pethebridge went for a 40/20. While Erina fullback Frasca got to the ball, he was ruled to have put a toe on the sideline, which handed the ball over to the Roosters.

Five plays later a clever cut-out ball from O’Neill-Pethebridge put Jake Hardman over with just 30 seconds to go. Piepers then slotted the conversion after the bell to level things up.

Although the Roosters came home strong, it was Erina who dominated extra time, with Cameron Davies going close with a shot from 40m out. It turned to be a pivotal moment as Woy Woy winger Ward knocked the ball on in goal to concede a drop-out.

This allowed the Eagles to dictate proceedings. And while they couldn’t crack the line, they nevertheless played the game in Woy Woy’s half.

Riley Stevenson scored for the Eagles. Picture: Michael Gorton

It was a similar story in the second half of extra time, with a wayward pass coming out of his own end from Andrew Fifita resulting in teammate Ashton Carroll being pushed back in goal for another drop-out.

And while Davies missed a rushed field goal chance from close range and Piepers sprayed one from 40m out, Erina was able to see out the extra time and move through to the decider.

It continues the club’s epic recent rivalry with Toukley, with Erina having lost to the Hawks in the past two deciders.

“We set out at the start of the week to play a brand of footy that can get us into a grand final and that’s what we’ve done,” said Allen. “So full stop on that and now we move onto Toukley and hopefully get a bit of retribution for the last couple of years.”

Erina 24 (Taylor, Stevenson, Frasca, Douch tries; Douch four goals) drew with Woy Woy 24 (Williams 2, Carroll, Ward, Hardman tries; Piepers two goals)