Late rally enough for Riverina women to go through

After taking out the inaugural title two seasons ago, the Bulls booked their place with a 12-8 win.

Four points was the most that separated the two sides at any stage of the clash.

Riverina got off to the perfect start when Tash Clemson went over from dummy half after three minutes but it was their rivals who were ahead for larger portions of the clash.

However some neat work down their edge paid dividends late.

After getting the call up this week, Jessie Carter made her presence felt as she scored with 13 minutes remaining to level things at 8-all.

Carter then found Tess Staines who burst through a gap to complete a 40-metre try with three minutes remaining.

Vanessa Richards made a mistake trying to come out of their own end, but they did enough to hold Monaro at bay to secure their grand final berth.

Coach Andrew Hinchcliffe was relieved to come through the tight game.

"It was very pleasing," Hinchcliffe said. "We made it very hard for ourselves completing at around 30 per cent but as a group we were able to show lots of resilience and hold them at bay."

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After Clemson's opener, Riverina made a mistake off the restart.

Their defence held out a number of chances but the Colts scored just before and after half-time to lead 8-4.

With plenty at stake, the late response was one of the most pleasing aspects.

"I was really pleased for Jess Carter, who stepped in for Bailey (Porter) this week to come up with that winning play," Hinchcliffe said.

"I know Tess put the polish on it but Jess' efforts really made that happen.

"Coming into that role for the first time and being new to the squad this year she really done a great job."

Hinchcliffe believes the team knows they dodged a bullet in the semi-final but who Riverina will play in the final is yet to be determined.

It is scheduled to be held alongside the men's Country Championships final at Wollongong on Saturday but with the other semi-final between Newcastle and North Coast was delayed due to wet weather.

Riverina will face an anxious wait ahead of the final after Tarnayar Hinch was placed on report early in the clash.

FULL-TIME

RIVERINA 12 (Tash Clemson, Jessie Carter, Tess Staines tries) d MONARO 8 (Ahlivia Ingram, Samara Afele tries