The East Campbelltown Eagles go into the last round of the home and away season having to win to give themselves a chance to defend their premiership title.
And they face a massive challenge in round 25 as they travel to St Mary’s this Sunday.
The home side is sharing the competition lead with Mounties and will be hard to beat.
But if anyone can do the impossible it’s the mighty Eagles, who shocked the rugby league world last year when they won the title after finishing in fifth spot.
On the weekend they climbed another mountain when they defeated the team that’s breathing down their necks, Guildford Owls.
Skipper John Da Silva saved the day with just a few minutes left on the clock when he kicked a field goal to give the Eagles a 29-28 victory.
But the win puts them just two points ahead of Guildford, who should beat Moorebank in the last round.
If the Eagles can’t get at least a point from St Marys, the Owls will jump over them off the back of a superior for and against record.
One could argue the Eagles have done remarkably well to be where they are considering the number of key players who have been out injured during the past couple of months.
Coach Richard Barnes was less than impressed with his boys despite the win, but refused to use injuries as an excuse.
“Our game was terrible today, our completions not acceptable,’’ Barnes said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“And I won’t take the excuses that we had players out, we are in equal fourth spot and we need to be better to win this competition,’’ he said[/social_quote].
The Eagles posted first points against Guildford after Aaron Teariki touched down, but poor ball control after that allowed Guildford back in the game.
The home side scored the next two tries to take a 10-6 lead.
The Eagles did hit back, as they usually do, when Ben Baker scored after receiving a great ball from Fusi Toutai.
But with a completion rate hovering just above 50 percent, the Eagles headed to the dressing room at half time knowing the coach wasn’t going to be a happy chappy.
The Eagles extended the lead after the break when Theo Leato crashed over and Ben Baker was successful with the conversion.
Guildford hit back quickly with a try under the posts to reduce the deficit to 18-16.
Another try gave the home side the lead at 22-18 but the Eagles raced in two quick tries to outside backs Fusi Toutai and Ben Baker and regain the ascendancy at 28-22.
A late try to Guildford levelled the scores to 28-28 and set the game up for a grandstand finish.
And that’s what it got when Da Silva potted the field goal for victory.
