A heart-stopping field goal to rising rugby league star Cooper Petterson has delivered a thrilling 23-22 win for the Macleay Valley Mustangs in the Group 3 minor semi-final against Port City Breakers.
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The 18-year-old, who ran onto the field with only two minutes remaining on the clock, then enjoyed the brightest moment of his fledgling career when he kicked the Mustangs into the grand final qualifier.
Mustangs co-coach Ant Cowan said it was an "incredible" performance for the first grade rookie, who also steered the under-18's side to victory earlier in the day.
"With two minutes to go, we knew we had to get Cooper on the field," he said. "He stayed cool and calm and then nailed it.
"For Cooper to come on in a game like that and kick the field goal to give us the win... it was incredible.
"It will give him a lot of confidence going forward... he's a person to look out for, that's for sure."
In a tightly contested game of footy, the Mustangs trooped off at halftime up 18-10.
The Breakers picked up steam in the second half and a try to Owen Blair had Port City leading with 16 minutes to go.
Despite trailing for the first time in the game, Cowan said the team was unconcerned about the scoreboard.
"We knew that there was still 16 minutes on the clock when they led in the second half," he said. "The boys stayed focus and stuck to the game plan and we waited for a mistake to happen."
It wasn't long before the Mustangs got their wish as a costly error by the Breakers allowed them to even the score to 22-22 and give the crowd a grandstand finish.
"It was probably one of the best games I've seen the boys play," Cowan said.
"We have so much faith and trust that these young fella can get the job done, and they definitely did that on the weekend.
"It just goes to show how good the club's looking."
The Mustangs will now go up against the Old Bar Pirates in Old Bar after they went down to the Port Macquarie Sharks in the major semi-final. They will meet at 2pm on Sunday, September 10.
Cowan said his team is fired up and looking to make amends after losing to them in the last round of the regular season.
"Old Bar are not going to go down lightly, but it would be so sweet if we could knock them off as well," he said. "We've got a big challenge ahead of ourselves.
"In the last round we were pretty understrength, but we are back to full strength now.
"We will be going there all guns blazing. We have nothing to lose, and we're coming for the big prize."
The first grade side will be in good company at Old Bar, with the under-18's and reserve grade teams both sealing wins on the weekend that has them playing for a grand final berth as well."
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