The Wiradjuri Goannas under 15s showed plenty of fight but they were ultimately no match for the Orange Vipers in the weekend's Western Women's Rugby League grand final.
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The Ben Bruce-coached under 15s side was the Goannas' lone hope at Bathurst on Sunday and while they stuck it to the Vipers in the first half, the Orange side was too strong late and ran out 32-10 winners.
The Goannas and Vipers had been the best two sides in the division all season and each only lost once on the way to finishing first and second respectively.
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The one regular season match the Goannas did lose was against the Vipers when the Orange team ran out convincing 42-4 victors.
It appeared early on in the grand final the Vipers were going to have it all their own way again.
The Vipers raced out to a 12-0 lead but the Goannas lifted and tries for Zakiah Jenkins and Kyree Merritt, plus one Merritt conversion, cut the deficit to just two points at the half-time break.
But some calming words from Vipers coach Jayce Barrett in the sheds proved the difference.
"The first half was really tight," Barrett said.
"There was stages when we were on their line and they were on ours and we held them out really well.
"We just told them to play their own game and not worry about the other team."
The girls took that onboard and ran with it to finish 32-10 winners after a dominant second half showing.
Barrett said the achievement was made sweeter by the fact his "very happy" side were full of players only just starting their rugby league careers.
"I'm extremely proud," he said.
"I was a little bit nervous going into the season not knowing how the new girls would handle it but to come away with the win was really good.
"They're just tough, they just keep getting up and going - it does make you proud to see how far they've come with their defence.
"Their goal-line defence was really good, they stopped them nearly every time they were on their line.
Freya Bryant, one of the Vipers young guns in her first year of footy, was named player of the match.
Elsewhere on grand final day there was plenty of joy for the Panorama Platypi and Woodbridge.
The Platypi won both the open-age and under 13s titles while Woodbridge was crowned champion in the under 19s and under 17s.
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