A STIRRING second half comeback, capped off by a late Josh Check field goal meant the Stingrays of Shellharbour took out the Group 7 Rugby League third grade premiership on Sunday.
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In another grand final day upset, the Stingrays narrowly downed Albion Park Outlaws 19-18 at Collegians Sporting Complex.
Shellharbour trailed 16-6 early in the second stanza.
Albion Park opened their account in the 15th minute when powerhouse Mitchell Jackson proved too strong to halt from close range.
Shortly after the Slade brothers combined to extend the advantage to 12-0.
Skipper Brent’s 40-20 kick laid the platform for an attacking raid, and Scott burrowed over from dummy half.
A deft Check inside ball put Man of the Match Tim Davies over on the stroke of half-time, reducing the deficit by half.
Jackson’s second four-pointer pushed the score-line out to 16-6.
However, rapid-fire tries afforded the Stingrays an unexpected lead with less than 15 minutes remaining.
Check showed great determination to plant the ball down.
Shellharbour then kept the ball alive, a second kick bringing the Outlaws undone, as Stingrays’ Jye Brooker followed his grubber into the in-goal.
The kick-off found touch though, and a few tackles later a Brent Slade penalty goal from in-front levelled the scores.
Check’s drop-goal, nailed despite the attention of a few defenders with less than three minutes remaining sunk the Outlaws.