FOUR minutes into injury-time and trailing 22-20 in Sunday's NSW Country Championship Colts Shield decider, Central West and Dubbo Kangaroos winger Josh Exner crossed in the right corner of Armidale's Bellevue Oval to secure a nail-biting 25-22 win for his Baby Bulls.
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After blowing a 15-point lead inside the final 12 minutes of the second tier final against Illawarra, Exner's try came on the back of a desperate last-ditch effort from the Baby Bulls, who had dominated all but the final third of the clash.
Central West peppered their opponents' line after regular time ran out, aiming almost 15 consecutive phases at the Illawarriors in one final attacking raid and being held up in the second minute of over-time, before throwing another 10 phases together.
They ignored a three-man overlap to Exner's side twice as well, before finally spinning the ball wide and finding the hulking winger.
"We spoke at half-time about sticking by each other and we took it away from them in that second half," Central West coach Scott Hatch said, relieved his side got out of jail.
"There was a lot of heart (in that win). We spoke about one person stepping up, another following, to create a contagious feeling that once one person did it everyone would follow.
"That's exactly what happened."
Central West trailed 5-3 at half-time, their only points coming through an Alex Webster penalty goal.
"We barely had the ball in the first half, but the boys stood strong," Hatch said.
After the break, the Baby Bulls switched on.
Bulldogs' duo Callum Mokaroka and Joel Harper both ran in tries and Webster nailed both conversions, along with a second penalty goal to give his side a 20-5 lead.
Central West looked home and hosed, until they lost control.
Illawarra scored three tries in the dying stages, stealing the lead with a five-pointer just a minute out from the end of regular time.
Central West regained the ball from the resulting kick-off though, driving the ball carrier into touch, and eventually found Exner on his lonesome on the right wing four minutes later.
Hatch was impressed with his entire squad, but reserved special praise for back-rower Dylan Carter, from Bathurst Bulldogs.
"We just improved the whole way through," Hatch said.
"Dylan Carter, playing No.8, he led, he communicated. He was sensational the entire tournament."
The Baby Bulls qualified for the decider with a gritty 25-14 win over Mid North Coast on Saturday and earn promotion into the top tier Rowlands Cup in 2017.
