The Gungahlin Eagles celebrated club stalwart Anthony Dawes' 100th game milestone with a gritty 19-15 win against the Queanbeyan Whites at Campese Oval on Saturday.
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The Eagles are now second on the John I Dent Cup ladder on 42 points and in the box seat to secure the all important double chance in the finals with one round to go.
Queanbeyan is in third place on 40 points, while Wests (37 points) have all but wrapped up fourth after inflicting the first loss on the previously unbeaten Tuggeranong Vikings this season.
Fifth-placed Canberra Royals (32 points) will need a bonus-point victory against Gungahlin next Saturday and hope the Wests don't get anything out of their match with Queanbeyan to sneak into the finals.
Dawes, who made his first-grade debut for Gungahlin in 2005, ironically against Queanbeyan, was delighted with his team's performance in such a crucial encounter.
"One hundred games is a long time coming, but to get a win here puts us up to second spot,'' Dawes said.
"Getting that second bite at the cherry in the finals is really important.
"We had a bit of a lull mid season where we had three losses in a row and we've built our season up from then.''
The Eagles trailed 15-12 before Rutikha Ilolahia crashed over in the 73rd minute to put the visitors back in the lead.
"We held them out for a good 15 minutes and it was just the scrum that was letting us down,'' Dawes said.
''We pulled ourselves together and realised the scrum isn't the whole game.
"We knew with the forward pack we've got we could get over the line.''
The Eagles also had a secret weapon, with ACT Brumbies winger Henry Speight running the water while teammates Robbie Coleman, Leon Power, Ruaidhri Murphy and Josh Mann-Rea were in the crowd.
"Henry's a champion, he comes to every training session,'' Dawes said.
"It's good to have him around, he always gets his two cents in there, which spurs us on.''
Meanwhile, with their season on the line, Wests pulled off one of the upsets of the year in knocking off the Vikings 39-31 at O'Connor Oval.
Wests fullback Drew Southwell scored with two minutes on the clock to end Vikings' winning streak.
Royals picked up a bonus point in their 27-5 win against Easts at Griffith Oval.
JOHN I DENT CUP
Gungahlin Eagles 19 bt Queanbeyan Whites 15 at Campese Oval; Wests 39 bt Tuggeranong Vikings 31 at O'Connor Oval; Royals 27 bt Easts 5 at Griffith Oval.
