By Chris W.B

On a warm Sunday afternoon the coast of NSW will be rocked as two of its finest second division sides do battle for the honour of competing in the first ever ASRL Second Division Grand Final. For Central Coast, guaranteed to ascend, it's all about pride. For Coffs, it's about a shot at the big league. Can pride see Central Coast through? Or will sheer desperation see Coffs Harbour unlikely victors against a side that's dominated Division Two all year?

If Central Coast weren't taking the game seriously, they weren't showing it, putting together some extremely tough defensive sets early on against a Coffs Harbour attack that was clearly nervous. Mortlock got the first points with his boot in the 3rd, Coffs up 2-0.

El Masri levelled things two minutes later with a penalty of his own. With Central Coast having made a few clean busts already in the match, things didn't look good for the underdog Wyrms. Or should that be underwyrms?

It took until the 25th for anyone to cross the white-wash, and the unlikely scorer was David Raelke. After the Falcons had dominated possession and field position for most of the game- but it was a clean break from Rodger Randal which handed Raelke a gift four pointer. Mortlock missed the conversion, but made ammends when he landed a difficult penalty a few minutes later. The Wyrms were surprise 8-2 leaders.

The Wyrms were unlucky not to score again in the 29th- Tavis Zephyr held back from chasing a Mortlock grubber by Steve Reardon. The referee didn't see fit to penalise, and the score remainded at 8-2.

Rookie of the year Sebastian Azema put Central Coast back on the attack when he out-paced Rodger Randal out wide, throwing a miraculous short ball inside to put Nigel Vagana over the line and set the score back at 8 all.

Whereas Coffs looked nervous earlier in the match, they looked confident despite the scoreline, Stirling Mortlock scoring out wide off a brilliant Ryan Sheridan long ball. He converted his own try on the cusp of halftime, and it was 14-8.

HALFTIME: Central Coast 8 trail Coffs Harbour 14

The Falcons showed the composure that befitted their position on the ladder, showing no signs of panic as they got things underway in the second half. Deep on the attack but continually stifled by Coffs' defence, the Falcons calmly opted for a penalty which brought them within four at 14-10.

The Wyrms and Falcons were impossible to separate as the game wound on, neither side willing to give an inch. It was clear Coffs Harbour were running on adreneline and emotion- whereas Central Coast were content to grind out tough sets of six. The Falcons' patience paid dividends in the 53rd, El Masri on the end of a brilliant passing exchange to score and convert. The Falcons holding a tenuous 16-14 lead with just under half an hour to go.

The final twenty minutes, whilst incident free, were intense to say the least. Whilst Coffs Harbour fought with the desperation of a cornered lion- the Falcons with the patience of a side who had been under pressure countless times before. The siren went, and Central Coast cheered, but it was the cheer of a side who know they've still got one last hurdle to overcome. Either Wollongong or Sydney.

FULLTIME
Central Coast Falcons 16
Nigel Vagana
Hazem El Masri
El Masri 4/4
def.
Coffs Harbour Wyrms 14
Stirling Mortlock
David Raelke
Mortlock 3/4

PoM Points
Hazem El Masri.............3
Braam van Straaten......2
David Raelke................1