The Uni-Norths Owls' fairytale appeared to be going up in smoke when the rampaging Gungahlin Eagles led 26-5 at half-time in their clash at ANU North.

Across town the defending premiers Royals feared they were in danger of being knocked out of the competition when they trailed the Tuggeranong Vikings' 21-13 at the break.

The finals incentive sparked two wild turnarounds as the Owls went on a 19-point scoring spree in a heated battle against the Eagles before their hopes of ending a 15-year finals drought were shattered when Gungahlin scored after the siren.

The Owls needed to beat the Eagles and rely on Royals losing to Tuggeranong to qualify for the play-offs.

But in the end even beating the Eagles wouldn't have been enough as Royals found something extra to send a shockwave through the competition by beating the Vikings 30-28.

Tuggeranong's bonus point in defeat was enough to seal their sixth consecutive minor premiership, while the Queanbeyan Whites, Gungahlin and Royals make up the top four.

The Owls' were left devastated after one of the best comebacks of the Canberra premier division season but the pain was numbed knowing even a win wouldn't have been enough to make the finals for the first time since 2001.

"We've been a second half team all year ... we kept going at it so I'm pretty proud of them," said Owls coach Dan Hooper. "The fact that Owls won probably softens the blow a little bit.

"The character the guys have shown through the season has been amazing. I think next year there are some areas we need to sort out, but we'll be better for it."

There was plenty of fire in the Owls-Eagles fixture as the home side rallied to give them a glimmer of hope in the second half.

The Eagles had already locked in their return to the finals after finishing second last 12 months ago.

But they were determined to go into the play-offs with winning momentum and collect their sixth win in a row.

The Eagles blew the Owls off the field with some scintillating play in the first 40 minutes, throwing offloads and scoring long-range tries to open up a 26-5 gap.

The half-time break changed everything and the Owls lifted to level the score as tempers reached boiling point, leading to Eagles' prop Pato Noriega being sent off for punching and Rocky Ilolahia sin-binned for a high tackle.

Ilolahia got redemption with a try on full-time to snatch a 31-26 win.

"It gave us a big scare there and I think the last 15 minutes was a show of what's going to be a hard semi-final next weekend for us," said Eagles coach Daniel Atkins.

"It was a test of our character and to Uni-Norths' credit, they had nothing to lose and threw everything at us.

"We're going to have to go up another level. As a prized fighter, we don't want to lose. The confidence is great ... last year we finished second last with four wins. This year we've come third with 10 wins."

The Eagles will play Royals in the first week of the finals with the loser to be eliminated, while Tuggeranong will play Queanbeyan in the major semi-final.

AT A GLANCE

John I Dent Cup: GUNGAHLIN EAGLES 31 (R Ilolahia 2, J Kotz, L Duffy, P Tuidraki tries; J Kotz 3 conversions) bt UNI-NORTHS OWLS 26 (Isileli Fa, D Bennett, P Ferreira, Y Tago tries; C Hodgson 3 conversions), ROYALS 30 bt TUGGERANONG VIKINGS 28, WESTS 25 bt EASTS 22.

Second grade: Uni-Norths Owls 19 bt Gungahlin Eagles 17, Tuggeranong Vikings 24 bt Royals 15.

Colts: Royals 31 bt Tuggeranong Vikings 22.

First division

First grade: Gungahlin Eagles 8 bt Uni-Norths Owls 5, Tuggeranong Vikings 33 bt Royals 17, Queanbeyan Whites 21 bt Cooma 0, Goulburn 19 bt Hall 7, ADFA 45 bt Young 19.

Second grade: Tuggeranong Vikings 48 bt Royals 14, Queanbeyan Whites 33 bt Cooma 10, Hall 31 bt Goulburn 0, Young 19 bt ADFA 0.

JOHN I DENT CUP FINALS

Major semi-final: Tuggeranong Vikings v Queanbeyan Whites.

Minor semi-final: Gungahlin Eagles v Royals.