Jimboomba Thunder open women's team have fought their way to second place in the south-east Queensland division three grand final.
The Thunderbirds took on the Inala Panthers at Nundah on September 16 where they went down 30 – 16.
Coach Greg Carson said the girls fought until the end, but were plagued with injuries and ended up with only one woman left on the bench.
“They were keen and they were tough but just didn’t pull it off in the end,” he said.
“They still felt like winners though, that is for sure.”
Each team had held a win over the other in recent weeks but the Panthers started strong and off the back of their massive forward pack they were away to a 14 – 0 lead.
Winger Nikki Dempsey took control of the match and managed to score a double and dummy half Janet Mitchell took a sneaky try to get the score back to 18 – 12.
With 10 minutes to go the girls were back in the running.
They were constantly on the attack of Inala’s line after back to back penalties.
- Read more: Falcons claim premiership
- Read more: Gymnasts head to state titles
- Read more: Redback girls make grand final
A couple of late tries under the posts against the run of play ensured the Panthers would take home the trophy.
Not to be defeated easily Dempsey took it out wide and managed to get another try on the board, but it was not enough to claw their way to the gold medal.
Thunder president Neil Richards said the team had done the club proud but stand-out players in the grand final clash were Kylie Stewart-Lewis who never stopped carting the ball forward in spite of carrying an injury and fullback Zoey Holland who was dangerous every time she touched the ball.
"After winning only one game in 2016, our women's team should be extremely proud of their efforts this year," he said.
"To go from bottom of the ladder to minor premiers with pretty much the same squad in the space of 12 months is an amazing effort by players and coaching staff.
“In spite of the result each and every one of these ladies is a winner and the club is immensely proud of them."
Jimboomba’s Zoey Holland was awarded Player of The Year as well as leading try and points scorer for the division three women’s competition.