One goal proves enough as Coolamon outlast North Wagga in finals thriller

The Hoppers looked destined to miss finals a month ago but now are just one win away from another grand final appearance after a 1.4 (10) to 1.1 (7) semi-final victory over North Wagga at McPherson Oval.

Neither team was able to secure the match-winner in a goalless second half but Coolamon's weight of territory helped them secure a gripping three-point win.

North Wagga got the ball deep into attack a couple of times late in the game but some desperate Coolamon defence helped them hang on for a famous finals win.

Coolamon coach Aiden Macauley said the tight nature of the scoreboard meant that every contest mattered in the final minutes.

"It was one of those ones where every contest meant so much," Macauley said.

"The last three or four minutes it seemed as North Wagga got on the outside and our girls would find a way to get the intercept.

"There was a great chase down tackle by Kaytryn (Wells) late in the game that swung things back our way as well so little moments like that added up to a great three-point victory."

North Wagga kicked the only goal of the first term through Keely Stephenson, before Coolamon got a reply in the second term courtesy of a Zoe Leary goal.

It was Leary's goal that would help be enough in a finals clash that Macauley admitted it was a little unusual.

"It was a bit of a funny one. I expected it to be within a goal or two but definitely thought it would be a little higher scoring than what it was," he said.

"We expected it to be a tough, physical and close game. It seemed neither team could get the ball on the outside and get any free movement, it seemed to be a scrappy and contested game the whole time."

Macauley paid tribute to North Wagga for not allowing the Hoppers to play their preferred style of football.

"We have a lot of girls that prefer to get out and run and get it on the outside. North Wagga did a really good job of making it that sort of game," he said.

"We got on top pretty early and got the ball where we wanted it, we won that field position for the majority of the game, I think North Wagga just did a really good job of flooding their backline and making it a scrappy contest and not letting us have many looks on goal even though the ball was down there a fair bit.

"Obviously that's a credit to them but hopefully next week we'll try to break the game open a bit more and create a bit more space for our forwards and our midfielders so we can get a few more looks on goal."

Coolamon's midfielders led the charge with Georgia Beard, Sophie Gaynor and Ruby Alchin all winning a lot of footy throughout the night, while Paige Hanrahan and Brianna Hanrahan were strong across half-back.

Emily Pollard, Susie Balchin and Olivia Pollard were North Wagga's best.

Macauley was pleased to have Coolamon one win away from another grand final appearance. Particularly given they had all but given up on finals not long ago.

"We were pretty confident we weren't going to be playing finals," he admitted.

"We had made that resolution within ourselves and decided to go out and enjoy our footy.

"I think a couple of close wins for us and a couple closes to Marrar helped us sneak in. North Wagga had obviously had a pretty good year so we were pretty happy to get over the top of them in the end.

"We have a pretty good list and girls are improving every week. All the girls that are new to the team are picking it up and seem to be getting better each week and that's the thing, if you have 18 girls out there that know what they're doing, it's a whole lot better than three or four.

"The girls that are new to it are starting to pick it up and improving each week. Probably at the start of the season our biggest downfall was not having girls available each week, but they all seem to be making themselves available at the right time of year."

Coolamon will now meet Charles Sturt University in one of the preliminary finals after the Bushpigs defeated Griffith by 23 points at Narrandera Sportsground on Thursday night.