By Tallon Smith

The Narooma Devils will live to fight another day after they sensationally defeated the Snowy River Bears 39-38 in the Group 16 Elimination Final at JJ Connors Oval in Jindabyne on Sunday.

After scraping into the finals on points differential over the Cooma Stallions for fifth spot, the Devils made the most of their lucky break, ending what was a promising season for the Bears in the first week of the postseason.

After scores were locked at full time, the game entered five minutes each way of extra time. Both sides crossed for tries, but were unable to be separated, with the score locked at 38-all.

The match entered golden point, with eight minutes passing and no score.

Enter Narooma Five-Eighth Clint Wright, who stepped up to nail a clutch field goal and keep his side alive in the Group 16 Premiership race.

Narooma Devils President Jaimie Wright said the win was “absolutely great” for the club, with the whole team putting in a massive effort before his son stood up in the big moment.

In a town where it seemed the game was beginning to struggle after the loss of their Reserve Grade and League Tag teams, rugby league is again the topic on everyone’s lips as the Devils’ seemingly improbable run continues.

“We’re the talk of the town after the weekend,” Wright said.

“You don’t get many scores of 39-38.

“There’s plenty of talk around town and online.”

“He started running around [celebrating],” Wright said of his son’s reaction to the field goal.

“It was a real team effort though, being such a long game, 98 minutes.”

Wright said the team’s performance was patchy at times, believing the side “should’ve won by more” if not for some crucial mistakes.

“We were six points ahead with 45 seconds to go, and we dropped the ball on the second tackle and they scored,” he said.

“Again we were 6 points ahead with 32 seconds left in extra time.

“Our mistakes and ball handling kept them in it.”

The Devils President expects next week’s trip to Tathra to be a tough one, but has faith that his side can get the job done in another high-stakes elimination game if they play their best football.

“They beat us in the last round of the comp, but we had a few blokes out,” Wright said.

“I’m expecting we should beat them really.”

Meanwhile, in the Qualifying Final, the Merimbula-Pambula Bulldogs outclassed the Tathra Sea Eagles 34-16 at Pambula Sporting Complex on Saturday. The Bulldogs ran in six tries to three to record a comprehensive victory on their home turf and set up a mouth-watering local derby in the Major Semi Final against arch rivals the Eden Tigers.

Meanwhile, the Tathra Sea Eagles will host the Narooma Devils in the aforementioned Minor Semi Final, as they look to sew up a spot in the Preliminary Final a week later.

Cover Photo: The 2023 Narooma Devils First Grade team (Supplied: Jaimie Wright)