THE celebrations started on the field and continued into the night when Temora stunned Gundagai 26-24 in a heart-stopper at Nixon Park on Sunday.
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Reflecting the raw emotion of the occasion, the Dragons broke with tradition to stay on the paddock to belt out the victory song in front of their rapturous supporters, who responded with a standing ovation.
Clearly bursting with pride, Temora captain-coach Grant Boyd later described the triumph as a milestone moment in his career.
And for classy halfback Sam Elwin, Temora’s remarkable come-from-behind conquest capped a homecoming to absolutely savour.
Elwin was peppered by Gundagai with questionable tackles from start to finish, but climbed off the canvas to play a masterful role in the success.
In a grandstand finish to an epic battle, Elwin booted the conversion of Temora’s last try in the 74th minute to deliver what was the knockout blow to the Tigers.
Barely 90 seconds earlier, Temora five-eighth Nathan McGowan had conjured a try that levelled the game at 24-all.
Weighting a grubber kick to perfection, McGowan harried through and dived on the ball after it was fumbled by the Tigers in their in-goal area.
The thrills didn’t stop there, however, with Gundagai throwing all they had at Temora but failing to snatch a miracle try.
Fittingly, Elwin pulled off a gem of a tackle to thwart the Tigers when a try was begging in the final seconds.
Back in Australia only days from a playing excursion in France, Elwin got a deserved accolade from the Dragons coach.
“Sammy knew he was going to cop it,” Boyd said.
“He’s that sort of player.
“He’s tough.”
Inspired by Elwin’s courage under fire, Temora produced a fight back of the ages to nail the Tigers to the wall.
Deep in a hole when 18-0 down in the 22nd minute, Temora recovered in devastating fashion, pouncing for three tries before half-time.
By the time McGowan had grubbered for replacement Taylor Krause to score a try 18 seconds from the bell, the Dragons were only down 18-12.
The Temora revival picked up even more steam when Elwin launched a raid that snared Todd Lynch his third try of the day in the 43rd minute.
Taylor Krause’s conversion got the Dragons level at 18-all before Krause landed a penalty goal in the 50th minute to push the team ahead.
Not for the first time, Gundagai paid the price for an indiscretion on Elwin, who was subsequently assisted off the field – only to gallantly return.
Momentarily up for the first time in the game, Temora was back chasing their tail when an errant pass produced a runaway try for Gundagai rookie Charlie Barton in the 60th minute.
The Barton try and subsequent conversion by Dylan Cole got Gundagai in front again 24-20, but Temora saved their best for last.
Little wonder Boyd was “over the moon”.
“To come back from 18-nil down and win that game was something special,” Boyd said.
“They (players) dug in well.”
In contrast, Gundagai captain-coach James Smart was livid in the aftermath, bemoaning a 13-4 penalty count against his team.
“(Penalties) Ruined us,” Smart said.
“Cruelled us big time.”
“We’re probably lucky the scoreline was as close as it was.”
For Gundagai, the loss was their first in six games this season and leaves the Tigers in a three-way tie at the top of the table.