They say anything can happen in semi finals football and no one would vouch for that expression more than the Orange United Warriors.
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Three weeks ago when Kurt Beahan's side fell to the Barbarians in the final round of the competition, it looked as though it was game, set match for the all-Indigenous outfit.
But, when the Wallerawang Landscaping Cup committee confirmed it would be taking a top five and not a top four into the postseason, the Warriors were given somewhat of a wild card entry into the postseason - an opportunity they've taken with both hands.
The men in teal have gone two-for-two in the semi finals with their latest victory coming behind enemy lines against the Cargo Heelers, the 26-24 victory bringing them to within one game of a grand final berth.
And even though the back-to-back wins have surprised many Mid-west pundits, it's not something captain-coach Kurt Beahan is shocked by.
"They're all starting to believe in themselves more and understand their potential," Beahan said.
"I still don't believe we've fully clicked as a side. We've had some good individual performances week in, week out but we haven't clicked as a team yet."
Saturday's victory didn't look overly likely after the first quarter as the home side shot out of the blocks, going up 10-0.
The Warriors fought their way back to within striking distance and things were neck-and-neck until Heelers' lock Ryley Oborn was sin binned for a professional foul, allowing United to take the game by the scruff of the neck and bring their tally up to 26 points.
When the Blayney boy came back onto the field, Cargo did what they could to catch the Warriors and looked like locking things up on the buzzer until a sideline conversion went astray, leaving the scores at 26-24 and spelling an end to the Heelers' campaign.
Heelers' leader Jared Brodrick was understandably disappointed with the outcome but gave the Warriors their due credit.
"We had a game plan and we started well but just couldn't go on with it," Brodrick said.
"We felt like we were doing well early on but the United boys took control in the third quarter."
Even though it was an underwhelming end to the season for Cargo, Brodrick's happy with how the campaign panned out and was proud of the effort his boys put forward.
"It was a funny season and everyone was in the same boat," he said.
"We just kept our footy super simple this season and didn't try to do too much.
"The thing I noticed most with the boys was their grind. We always stayed in games and never really gave in which was a big positive."
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