Queanbeyan Whites scrum-half Mitch Douch missed his first two chances at a game-winning penalty goal, but kept his composure to deliver his side a thrilling 20-18 victory against Wests on Saturday.
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In a dramatic finish to the John I Dent Cup encounter at Jamison Oval, Wests looked like they would hang on when Douch's second penalty goal attempt went wide with time off the clock.
But Douch was given another opportunity when Wests outside-centre Ratu Tagive was penalised for deliberately throwing the ball over the sideline.
Douch made no mistake from in front of the posts to give the Whites the inside running on an all-important top two finish.
"It's pretty good, I didn't think I was going to put it over, I was nervous when I missed that first one, but it just went over," Douch said.
"After the game I was saying third time lucky.
"As soon as I missed the first one I thought that's over, but luck's on our side I guess today."
The Whites are second on the table on 63 points and must collect at least a bonus point against Uni-Norths next week to remain ahead of Wests (60), who have the bye in the last round.
Tagive arrived in Canberra to train with the Brumbies after playing rugby league in the lower grades with the Wests Tigers and the Bulldogs.
Wests coach Craig Robberds said it was an unfortunate way to lose the game, with Tagive unaware of the rule.
"It's tough, we defended extremely well, he had a chance to kick it earlier, that was probably the easy one, missed the one at the finish and got the last one," Robberds said.
"It was a very tight game, the last 40 minutes their scrum got on top.
"We didn't touch the footy in the second half as much as we should have."
Wests raced to a 15-3 lead at half-time thanks to tries from winger Rob Buaserau and prop Ben Coutts.
Another penalty goal for Wests extended their advantage to 18-3 midway through the second half.
Wests were reduced to 14 players when lock Nick Barrett was shown a yellow card for a professional foul after Queanbeyan threatened the try-line.
With Barrett in the sin-bin for 10 minutes, the Whites scored their first try of the game through JR Morgan to reduce the deficit to eight points.
The Whites refused to go away.
A grandstand finish was assured when Sokai Tai planted the ball over the try-line to bring the Whites back to within one point.
Meanwhile, the Tuggeranong Vikings sealed the minor premiership with a 55-7 thumping of Royals at Viking Park.
The Uni-Norths Owls hammered Easts 61-19 at ANU North Oval.
