Goulburn Dirty Reds work hard for minor premiership with victory over Queanbeyan Whites

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At the end of the home and away season teams typically want a solid challenge in preparation for the playoffs to come, and this match offered exactly that.

Despite holding the lion's share of possession and territorial advantage in the first half, Goulburn struggled to translate this into points. Part of that was how stoutly Queanbeyan defended, but handling errors also played a significant role.

Frequently camped in Queanbeyan's quarter, a combination of no-look and misjudged last passes frequently went to ground on what were promising scoring opportunities for Goulburn.

It took 24 minutes, but Goulburn broke the nil-all deadlock when Josh Condylios crossed for his first of two tries, with Webber adding the extras.

Shortly afterwards, Eric Brown added another Goulburn try which, when converted, put the Reds up 14-0 going into the break.

But while it looked like Goulburn may have gotten over their early yips and might roll on to a big score, Queanbeyan was having none of it.

The battle at the breakdown was well matched throughout the game and both sides had to work hard just to piece together a number of phases.

Queanbeyan scored their first try nine minutes into the second half but Webber, who kicked 100% on the day, increased Goulburn's buffer with a penalty goal.

Six minutes before full time, Condylios added his second try and, with the conversion, Goulburn was up 24-5 and certain to win but Queanbeyan hung in there for a try right on full time for the 24-12 final result and a very positive end to the home and away season.

In the end, Goulburn scored three tries to Queanbeyan's two, but Queanbeyan outscored Goulburn in the second half with two tries to one. Goulburn were deserved winners but the final score probably doesn't fully reflect the challenge that Queanbeyan provided.

This proved to be a good test for the Goulburn side and just the preparation they'll need going through the playoffs.

Pleased with both the result and the minor premiership, co-coach Mikael Webber said that while those things were nice, they don't matter from this point on and that the real work starts now. All of the four sides that have won through to the semis are tough and there wouldn't be an easy game among them.

Next weekend, Goulburn plays second-placed Tuggeranong at Viking Park at 11.40am with all remaining finals matches also to be played at the same venue.

Best and fairest players for Goulburn were Jordan Wilcox (3), Will Mooney (2), Brad Clements (1) and Jacob Kara (1), with Wilcox also named Players' Player.

Goulburn 24 (Josh Condylios 2, Eric Brown tries, Mikael Webber 3 conversions, 1 penalty goal) def. Queanbeyan 12 (Noa Nadruku, Ivan Fifita tries, Aaron Robinson conversion).

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