The Western Force came from a long way behind to snatch a thrilling 15-14 win over the Northern Bulls in Perth yesterday.
Down 14-3 at half-time and staring down the barrel when still trailing by four points and with the Bulls in possession with just two minutes to go, the Force scored the winning try through rugby league convert Ryan Cross in the 79th minute.
Cross had struggled all night after a heavy early knock, but was the man for the occasion as the Force capitalized on their opponents being a player down in the dying minutes.
With a try on out wide, a Matt Hodgson pass to Luke Holmes slipped through the latter’s hands, but fortuitously rebounded straight to Cross, who dived across in the corner for the try that gave the Force their first home win of the season and took their record to 5-3 in a big boost to their playoff hopes.
Their second successive last-minute loss left the Bulls with a 2-6 record after a horror tour of Australia and New Zealand that failed to produce a win from four matches and has left their title defence hanging by a thread.
Force coach John Mitchell admitted the win wasn’t pretty, but couldn’t fault the endeavour of his players.
“It was an incredible effort by the boys,” he said. “We cost ourselves with too many free balls, but we stuck at it and earned it through pressure. It was an ugly win, but a good one.”
In an error-riddled game marred by a plethora of turnovers, the defending champions all but did enough in the second half to secure the win.
The Force dominated possession late in the game and attacked strongly, but the Bulls held up and inevitably secured the turnover, until Cross’ try snatched the win from them.
The Force opened the scoring in the 15th minute, when Cameron Shepherd gave them a 3-0 lead with a penalty.
But the Bulls struck back in the 19th minute, with a try though Bryan Habana.
The Force’s Matt Giteau had appeared to make a try-saving tackle on Akona Ndungane as he closed in on the line, but the explosive Habana crossed out wide just seconds later.
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