THE Tea Gardens Hawks soared into the C-Grade finals season with an emotional rollercoaster of a win over the Dungog Warriors, clinching their final match of the regular season on Saturday 10 August.

The Hawks were slower out of the blocks than usual, conceding two tries in the first 20 minutes.

A Shaqueil Saunders grubber kick was seized on by Riley Hunter in the endzone for the Hawks’ only try in the first half.

Despite all defensive efforts from Tea Gardens, Dungog entered the break with over 20 unanswered points, including a try in the final 30 seconds.

The sides stopped for halftime with Dungog leading 28-6.

The Hawks rallied in the second half, delivering an avalanche of tries.

Joshua Hannaford got going with a run from ten metres out, dragging three defenders over the line to score.

After two return tries by Dungog, Saunders delivered two Hawks tries in almost as many minutes.

The first came when he noticed, 35 metres out, that nobody was home behind Dungog’s line on the third tackle, chip-kicked over them and regathered to score under the posts.

Three minutes later, John Schultz broke through Dungog’s defence, passing to Saunders on his inside, who scored under the posts again.

From there, it was the Hawks’ game, as Schultz received from Saunders this time, then thumped away two defenders to score next to the posts.

The final nail came from Ben Woolard.

Receiving a solid pass along the left wing from 30 metres into his own half, he ran through three Dungog defenders to fly 70 metres up and score.

Some late points by Dungog in the dying minutes brought the score to 32-36, however the Hawks united to hold the line and assure their final victory and the ultimate comeback.

Saunders converted all six Hawks tries, retaining his spot at the top of the ‘Top Points’ and ‘Top Tries’ ladder.

James and Alex Sinclair, along with Luke Perry, made the top ten on the Top Tries ladder, and James ranked top ten in Points.

The Tea Gardens Hawks finished at equal second on the overall series ladder, but for/against points put them in fourth spot, meaning they will face Hinton in the first Elimination Final on Saturday 17 August.

Time and location TBA at time of writing.

By Thomas O’KEEFE