Kildare's Hayden O'Connell, courtesy of a controversial free kick, had a tough shot after the siren to either win or tie the game from 40 metres out but fell just short of a behind.

It handed Mater Dei a come-from-behind win over their arch-rivals, 5.3 (33) to 5.2 (32) at Robertson Oval.

It may have only been the second round of the competition but the stakes were high with a spot in next month's final virtually up for grabs.

A goal to Eduward Grigg from a 50 metre penalty midway through the final quarter provided Mater Dei with the match-winner, in what proved to be the only goal of the term.

Kildare had led for the majority of the contest up until that point.

Mater Dei coach Nathan Irvine conceded his team made the most of their luck.

"We weren't sure how we were going to go because we didn't play last week. We knew Kildare would be really tough, they've got lots of guys who play first grade," Irvine said.

"We had a game style we thought would hold up and we were lucky it did. I probably thought we were tackling better and winning the footy but just turning it over too much. They were much better with their foot skills.

"But when we hit the lead and they got it back, they showed a good resolve to keep battling and keep going. It was good."

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Irvine revealed a couple of trial games against Canberra schools helped Mater Dei prepare for what was virtually a first-up semi-final.

"We were really lucky Erindale College from Canberra came down last week and we got to play a game against them, and we played a game against Marist College before holidays," he said.

"It just meant we weren't going in cold tonight. We played really well last week so that gave us confidence."

Meantime, Kooringal High School kept their finals hopes alive with a 59-point win over Wagga High School in the first game.

Kooringal started strongly with four first-quarter goals and never looked back from there.

Wagga High were much more competitive over the last three quarters but Kooringal were never troubled as they recorded their first win of the competition.

Kooringal High coach Andrew Schmetzer was pleased to see his team rewarded with a good win.

"That was a much-improved effort," Schmetzer said.

"It was a four-quarter, great team effort. The boys just really worked for each other.

"Luke Lawrence back in the middle made a massive difference.

"They were committed to the task, they really wanted this one against Wagga High and they played tremendous footy for four quarters."

The only sour note for Kooringal was an ankle injury to Tomas Matheson and Macauley Armstrong.

That will make life tough for Wednesday night's clash against Mater Dei.

"It's going to be a bit tough to back up on Wednesday night now that we've got two injuries but we'll see how we go," Schmetzer said.

FULL-TIME

KOORINGAL HIGH SCHOOL (69)

4.1 5.2 9.2 11.3

WAGGA HIGH SCHOOL (10)

0.0 0.1 0.2 1.4

Goals: (Kooringal) J Scott 2, N Killeen 2, L McGowan 2, L Lawrence, M Armstrong, N Wetherill, R Waugh-Smith, J Robbie; (Wagga) F Hubbard.

Best: (Kooringal) L Lawrence, T Matheson, S Rodet, R Waugh-Smith, J Robbie, N Killeen; (Wagga) K Langat, B Walker, J Mattingly, R Judd, F Hubbard, A Clark.

MATER DEI CATHOLIC COLLEGE (33)

0.3 1.3 4.3 5.3

KILDARE CATHOLIC COLLEGE (32)

1.0 2.2 5.2 5.2

Goals: (Mater Dei) H Wichman 2, H Wooden, B Wallet, E Grigg; (Kildare) T Nimmo 2, N Madden 2, T Nejman.

Best: (Mater Dei) E Grigg, F Molloy, T Smith, J Hockley, H Wichman, L Mazzocchi; (Kildare) T Sase, J Morton, J Douglas, W O'Connor, S Emery, K Salim.

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