Tumut have built a blue wall this season, but it was Southcity's defence who proved too tough to crack in a thrilling clash at Twickeham on Sunday.
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The Bulls defence held strong late as they came from behind to down the Blues and set up another massive match-up with Gundagai.
Southcity trailed early, and then had Mitch Bennett sin binned to start the second half, but held off a determined Blues outfit to take a 22-18 win in the qualifying final.
Captain-coach Kyle McCarthy was in awe of their resilience in defence.
"They threw so much at us but the boys just dug in," McCarthy said.
"There was a lot of spreads but no one gave up on the inside and that probably saved us.
"If we lapsed they would have done us but the effort was there and I'm really proud of the boys."
Tumut were in front for most of the clash, leading by 10 points at two different stages, before Nathan Rose scored the match winner with 10 to go.
The Blues dominated field possession in the final five minutes and had repeated sets on the attack, including winger Michael Clark being held up over the line with minutes left on the clock, but couldn't find one more try in front of their home crowd.
The Bulls' kicking game proved to be one of the big differences.
A Rose grubber kicked forced Dean Bristow into error leading to Harry Lucas' try when Bennett was sin binned following a professional foul and a McCarthy 40-20 was the perfect lead in for Southcity to go in front.
He chased up Rose's grubber kick to score after another Bristow mistake at the back to give the Bulls a 18-16 lead with 21 minutes remaining.
Tumut levelled things with a 35-metre penalty goal from Jacob Toppin with 12 to play but a Zac Masters mistake off the kick return gave the Bulls perfect position and off the scrum Rose dazzled in his return from injury.
McCarthy thought the period with Bennett on the sidelines was crucial.
Tumut made the most of their advantage as Ben Roddy scored to push their lead to 16-6 only for the Bulls to hit back.
"It was a big period and to get a try was probably a miracle," McCarthy said.
"We slowed the play down well, even when they got a few strips, and we held our line not to bad considering we were a man down."
Southcity now faces Gundagai for a place in the grand final at Anzac Park with the Bulls looking to make up for a 32-0 thrashing there earlier this season.
Meanwhile the Blues play for their season against Albury at Equex Centre on Saturday.
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