PALMYRA was denied a sixth straight victory when Nedlands centre Neihana Christian scored in the dying seconds of the game to steal the game 23-20 at Tompkins Park on Saturday.
Both sides traded early penalty goals before a well-positioned restart from Palmyra fly half Dave Neilson enabled Panache Kamhara to gather the ball and race away to score, which was successfully converted by Neilson.
Nedlands converted a penalty midway through the half before Palmyra fullback Manihera Eden split the defence crossing under the posts for a well-deserved try.
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READ NOWNeilson converted for a halftime score of 17-6 to Palmyra.
The early exchanges in the second half were scrappy, before Christian scored in the 58th minute, which was unconverted.
Nedlands captain Tevin Ferris scored a short time later taking the score to 18-17 in Nedlands favour, the visitors’ first lead of the match.
Palmyra was then able to hold Nedlands in its own half for long periods, which was eventually rewarded with a penalty by Neilson taking the score 20-18 with minutes left on the clock.
At the restart, Palmyra failed to control the ball, allowing the Nedlands pack to secure possession and with seconds left on the clock Christian scored the match winner to claim both the points and the RugbyWA Cup.
In other games, Palmyra reserves won 24-5 and colts triumphed 28-17.
Thirds lost 18-15, Fourths were downed 19-7 and the women’s team lost in a hard fought game 14-5.
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