Rabaul Agmark Gurias are the 2015 Digicel Cup winners after a gutsy 26-18 win over the TNA Simbu Lions in front of a crowd over 15 000 this afternoon at the Sir John Guise stadium.
Gurias extended their lead early in the second half after Jason Missian converted a penalty right in front to put the score to 18-8.
The Lions put themselves right back in the game when a double pump from five eighth Nathan Mili put Job Roltinga through a gap to score under the posts.
Enoch Sine made sure the extras were added to set the tone for a fight to the finish.
The next 10 minutes saw sloppy football with poor ball handling from both sides.
Rallied on by the crowd, the Lions turned the tide and had the Gurias under the pump making them defend consecutive sets of six from the Lions.
It was not long before the Lions were over the line thanks to quick hands to send the ball out to Sonny Daing who carried a few Gurias defenders over before slamming the ball down to level the score at 18-18.
With the wind against him, it was now left to Sine to put his team in front.
But Sine's kick right from the side line heartbreakingly fell short.
This set up a nail bitting last 10 minutes of play.
The Gurias knew they had to score next if they were any chance of winning and score they did when a determined run from prop Pidi Tongap saw him step and bulldoze his way through the defence to score what was the winning try.
Missian was spot on adding the extra two points to put the Gurias in front by six.
With minutes left on the clock, the win was sealed when frustration caused the Lions to give away a penalty right in front of the posts.
Missian took his time and kicked the goal right for the Gurias to walk away with the 2015 Digicel Cup.