After hanging tough to defeat Asquith Magpies 24-22, East Campbelltown Eagles head into the last three rounds of the competition with a good chance of finishing fourth.
The Eagles are equal fifth with Guildford on 28 points and are back home this Sunday hosting Cabramatta in a game they should win.
Round 24 could well be the key for the Eagles when they play Guildford away.
Whoever wins that match will almost certainly finish fourth.
Neither can finish any higher than fourth because the top three sides, Mounties, St Marys and Wenty, have opened up a six point buffer with teams below them.
A tough road trip awaits the Eagles in the final round of the minor premiership: joint competition leaders St Marys.
But if they win their next two matches the Eagles may have booked their finals place by the time round 25 rolls around.
It all starts this Sunday at Waminda “International’’ against Cabramatta in round 23.
The Eagles will be celebrating Polynesian round in style, with traditional food stalls and dancers.
In what should be a great day, gates will open at 10am, with the main game kicking off at 2.30pm.
On the weekend, the Eagles were missing a raft of star players when they travelled to Storey Park for the clash with the Asquith Magpies.
Missing in action included Fred Tevega, Adam Soultan, Chris Standing, Jordan Strickland and Ben Baker.
As a result the Eagles put their faith on under 19s players such as Samuel Ioane, Kobe Chambelin and Aubrey French, who was making his first grade debut.
Eagles posted first points when Amanono Tovio crossed in the opening minutes and Sean Connor converted for a 6-0 lead but that was short lived as Asquith hit back quickly to level up the scores,
Craig Moustakas was next to cross when Theo Leato showed amazing skill to set up the veteran winger and again Sean Connor kicked from the side line to extend the lead to 12-6.
Asquith scored an unconverted try in the second half but then the flying Moustakas crossed for his second try of the day.
When Sean Connor again converted from the side line, the Eagles were up 18-10.
Asquith hit back with a converted try to again narrow the gap to two points.
Ten minutes form the final hooter Moustakas crossed for a hat trick to have the Eagles leading 24-16.
Asquith scored with four minutes on the clock to make it 24-22.
The Magpies threw everything at the visitors but the Eagles didn’t crack.
“What an effort from the boys; from the warmup we were switched on to win and to defeat a top four team with so many guys out has made our club very proud,’’ said coach Richard Barnes after the match.
Sean Connor
Crying as usual
Crying from fatigue
Heart of vegas ❤️
This was taken at the start of the year. I was in the foetal position on the weekend