After just scraping into the finals Barraba/Gwydir is now just a win away from the Central North second grade grand final after upsetting Gunnedah 17-14 in the minor semi-final at Inverell.
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Only securing their spot in the final four in the final round, and by a point, the Ram-Rats left it until late on Saturday too, Matthew Pfingst scoring with three minutes remaining to get them home.
The Red Devils had led 14-12 from the opening minutes of the second half after Ram-Rats winger Harry Preston had crossed for his second try in the shades of half-time to give them a 12-7 lead at the break.
It was then a real finals battle until a barnstorming run from hooker Josh Layton got the Ram-Rats into the Red Devils' 22 and with some quick hands they found Pfingst, and he did the rest.
Skipper Will Robinson said it did feel like they were building towards an opportunity.
"We were hanging in with the ball so we had to break eventually," he said.
For many of the side, including him, their first taste of senior finals footy, his message to them before they ran out was just to take their chances and play as a tight group.
He felt they did that and was really pleased with the way they really stuck in there and ground it out.
"Our defence was really good and we attacked and held the ball for long periods," he said.
Beaten by the Red Devils in both their meetings during the regular season, Robinson pointed to their commitment as probably being the big difference from their last encounter, which was back at the start of July.
They've really "come together" and "trained harder", and particularly the last month have been building and improving each game.
They will now face either Moree or Pirates for a spot in the decider.
"The boys are really excited, and the towns are a bit behind us so it will be great," Robinson said.
Saturday was an especially memorable game for No.8 Nick Sweeney. He became the second player in as many games to notch 100 games with Robinson achieving the milestone their last game of the regular season.
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