Tingha has been crowned as champions of the inaugural North West Rugby League Women’s Nines.
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The Untouchables lifted the title following a last-gasp 16-15 win against Tamworth Rebels in Saturday’s grand final at Armidale.
The decider proved an epic contest and was only sealed after the final siren.
The high-flying Rebels looked set to seal the prize when Amy Barraclough powered over the tryline with less than two minutes remaining, giving her side a crucial 15-10 lead.
But Tingha would not be denied.
Playmaker Chokita Brown put up a bomb which bounced and quickly gathered by Sarah Byrne.
The flying Byrne then dodged a despairing Tamworth cover defender and crossed to make it 15-14.
That set the scene for Twylah-Rose Campbell to kick the winning conversion and spark jubilant scenes as the Untouchables created history.
“We needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat in that last 40 seconds,” Tingha captain-coach Keira Edwards said.
“I thought when Chokita put up the bomb we would be a chance and Sarah raced onto the ball to score the try.
“It was a big kick for Twylah-Rose, but I had full confidence in her.
“She knew what she was doing and made the kick which was great.”
Edwards revealed the secrets to Tingha’s title success were superb team play and good old-fashioned hard work.
“We’ve been training since October last year, twice and even three times a week in the lead-up to the final,” she said.
“The Rebels had gone through undefeated, so we knew we had to be prepared to be ready for the big occasion and give our best on the day, which we did.”
The Rebels were well-served by Abby Schmiedel, Leica Le Brocq and Barraclough.
Country Rugby League female participation officer Kylie Hilder said the North-West Nines proved a big hit.
“It was a great success and shows there is great demand from the girls to play the tackle version of the game,” Hilder said.
Hilder added that next season’s competition would be played in November and December.