The Boogabri Roos held off a last minute advance by the Barraba Bulldogs to win 38-26 in Saturday's Group 4 Shield clash.
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Down by 14 points with only a few minutes remaining at Boggabri's Jubilee Oval, Barraba looked gone for all money.
But two late opportunistic tries had the crowd on its feet and the Bulldogs within a sniff.
Roos coach Dave Harris said his instructions were simple: just hang in there.
"We just had to stay tough," he said.
"We're only a young side and stuff is always going to go wrong but you’ve got to stay tough and go back to the plan."
On the stroke of full-time, Boggabri's Heath Heath McIlveen sealed victory with a try in the corner.
The team's last minute nerves were precipitated by a flurry of Barraba tries toward the end of the first half.
Despite the slip in concentration, the coach was impressed how his young charges responded.
"We fell asleep and went away from the game plan for a bit," Harris said.
"In previous years the boys would have put the tail between the legs and shut up shop but we stood up today, matched them and finished it off.
"Barraba has been the top team for last three years and [the win] was something we’ve aimed for all year.
"We didn’t want to lose at home.
"We have always matched them in last few years and we just wanted to work hard and finally get a win against them."
The Boggabri Roos league tag side drew 4-all with Barraba in the earlier match.
The game was shortened to just 25 minutes after a nasty arm injury Roos' player Melissa Kerr, who despite being wheeled away on ambulance stretcher, looked to be in good spirits.
Roos league tag coach Jason Kemp said the girls showed good skill during their limited time on the field.
"For the majority of the first half they put in, played as a team and showed a lot of ball movement which got them to the front early," Kemp said.
"They controlled most of the game, it was just unlucky for Barraba to score in the last 30 seconds to get a draw.
"In the last month of football, our girls have advanced in leaps and bounds."
The coach was particularly chuffed with the defensive efforts of all players.
"That was our biggest asset today," he said.
He also named playmaker and first-half try-scorer Kylie Cowley as one his side's best.
"She was very dangerous," he said.
(Ed. note: thanks to Dave Harris for agreeing to do the video interview)
