"You just have to put everything out of your mind. If you start thinking about it, the pressure gets to you."
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That's what was running through the mind of Orange City's Duncan Young as he stepped up to take the kick that would ultimately send the Lions through to the second grade grand final.
Down six with time running out, Henry Bouffler made a desperate run to score in the left hand corner.
Up stepped Young, who in front of City's bench, slotted home the conversion on what was the final play of the game as the Lions came out on top against Orange Emus 19-18.
"I knew it was going to be close," Young said when asked how the kick felt off the boot.
"That breeze just died at the end there and I was hoping it was going to pick back up, but it snuck there in the end."
The opportunity only came about through some wayward kicking on Emus' end as they went 0/3 on conversions during the game.
"As soon as that last conversion missed, we knew we were still in the game," Young said of Hugh Britton's failed attempt late in the game, which came shortly after the Emus back slotted home a penalty from 35 metres out to put his side up by one.
"It was unfortunate for him, but fortunate for us as well."
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Harrison Kukla - who scored a double during the victory - was watching on with bated breath as Young lined up the winning kick.
"I'm buzzing," he said after the match.
"I was nervous for him, I was nervous for the team, but he came through and it's real good."
This season has been Kukla's first taste of senior rugby.
Not only was he delighted to beat his cross-town rivals, the back believes his side has what it takes to come home as premiers on August 26.
"We're going to go hard and hopefully come away with the win," he said.
"We've got a stacked team, we can do this."
Young agreed.
He noted the old adage that in a grand final, it's "anyone's game".
"Anything can happen," he said.
"Bulldogs have been the form side all year, but we put it to them in the last round, so we've just got to go over there and put it all on the table."
The grand final will be held at Bathurst's Ashwood Park.
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