The Queanbeyan Whites had their premiership hopes shattered by an after-the-siren penalty that ended their hopes of toppling the Tuggeranong Vikings in the John I Dent Cup grand final on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The loss was felt hard by Jamie “Chainsaw” Marmont, who hoped to celebrate his 100th game with a win.
“My number one priority was to get the win. It’s good to have that personal accolade, but at the end of the day I would have much preferred to have the win,” Marmont said.
Coach Adam Fahey said his team will rally to return bigger and stronger in 2017 as they fight to end Tuggeranong's dominance of Canberra's premier rugby division.
Whites players were left devastated after their last-minute charge fell agonisingly short in a 26-22 loss at the hands of the Vikings at Viking Park.
The Whites led on two occasions during the match before they fell behind with 15 minutes left.
They found a way back into the contest and went all-out attack with five minutes left and pinned the Vikings in their own 10-metre zone.
Queanbeyan's dominant scrum threatened to win a penalty try but a turnover after full-time ended the game on a sour note for the Whites.
"It was a typical toe-to-toe game with Tuggeranong," Fahey said.
"I thought we did enough to gain more reward from our scrum, but that's not my decision. We weren't good enough in the end.
"We changed things this year, we had our opportunities to win that, but we didn't."
The Whites started with a bang when Carl Elliot scored the opener, and when Brumbies centre Andrew Smith barged over in the second half, Queanbeyan had a 22-14 lead.
The Vikings charged back to the front and managed to withstand a late fightback to clinch the premiership.
Despite the loss, Marmont, 28, said he wouldn’t play for any other team.
“I think Queanbeyan has just got that special something, different from every other team. It has that community feel.
”It’s got a strong bond between the players,” he said.
He reached his 100th game after playing for the Whites since he was in year 12.
“It’s quite an achievement,” he said.
“You’re looking at clocking up seven to eight years for first grade football before you can reach that many games.”
Marmont’s name will be added to the honour board at the clubhouse.
