Then, when his teammate Ethan Hamilton joined Watters after also picking up a yellow card, the victory for Country was looking incredibly unlikely as City continued to attack just metres away from the try line.

On three occasions City declined to take the three points and went for glory at the western end of the ground.

Those decisions backfired in a big way on the City squad as the home side pulled off a spectacular defensive effort to defend their crown in the Ella Cup.

It was a special moment for Orange Emus junior Watters, who was able to get back onto the field for Country's last post-siren defensive effort.

Watters said it was an incredible feeling to get the better of the Sydney squad in his home city.

"I'm only five minutes up the road so it's an indescribable feeling to win here," he said.

"It was hard to watch after being sent off and then just a few minutes later my mate gets sent off too. I think it was the right thing to do, to stop that try, and it is what it is.

"I think after they scored that first try we didn't drop our heads, which is something that we've talked about during the week. You've got to find that dark place and you've got to love it.

"When we found ourselves in that place we knew we could only go up from there, and we scored and then held possession while playing great rugby. We trained so hard on our defence. That's how you win games."

Country took back the cup last year after City went on an 11-year winning streak, and their successful defence of the trophy came on the back of some strong defence.

Country head coach Andrew Hillan said the defensive tenacity from his squad was a culmination of the effort they'd been putting in over the course of their training.

"Our whole campaign has been based around defence. The guys got to a dark place today and just defended their hearts out with 13 men at the end. It's a huge credit to them," he said.

"It means so much to these guys. Sydney showed a bit of arrogance by not taking the three points on three occasions. I couldn't believe it. Our guys just kept turning up defensively and it's amazing for these guys after travelling so far.

"We've got guys travelling 11 hours back home to Coffs Harbour today, which is a massive thing for those guys."

City started the match the stronger side, capitalising on several lineout turnovers from Country to keep the hosts pinned inside their own half.

The pressure eventually led to City's first try of the day off the back of a chip kick.

Country struck back against the run of play 10 minutes before half-time when fullback Tom O'Connor picked up a loose ball and found space down the left wing to score out of his own half, making it 5-all.

City went close to scoring five minutes before the break but were penalised at the breakdown just a metre away from the Country try line.

Country enjoyed the better share of possession and field position at the start of the second half, leading to a penalty just three minutes in.

However, City hit back with sustained pressure in attack to work their way downfield and eventually find the breakthrough to go ahead 12-8.

It took some individual brilliance from Country's Riley Evans to get his side back in front, evading several defenders on his way to scoring in the left corner.

Trouble started to brew for Country with eight minutes remaining when Watters was forced to jump offside in order to stop an almost certain City try, leading to him being shown the yellow card.

Hamilton then joined him for a similar offence with five minutes to go.

City continued to turn down the kick at goal and searched for a try, but Country were up for the occasion and found a way to stop them at every phase.

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