By Chris W.B

Up until Round 26 of this season, Central hadn't been able to beat since season 2002. The Crusade and Central were the two dominant sides in Premier League this year, and now only one can continue through to the Grand Final.

The game got underway courtesy of David Shayne's boot, and Gold Coast made an ideal start when Chris Latham made a brilliant thirty metre dash on the first. The Crusade looked set to score a remarkable first try, but Kris Radlinski put it down under pressure to concede possession.

The first points of the game only took two minutes, when David Shayne's unerring boot struck to make it 2-0 in favour of Central. Andrew Johns levelled the scores in the 13th courtesy of a high tackle on Kris Radlinski. Thus far both sides had played safe football, but Gold Coast lifted their intensity as half time drew near and made several promising busts which were ably shut down by gritty Central defence.

Despite the weight of possession, Gold Coast couldn't get on the board, as as halftime sounded the scores were level at 4 apiece after both sides exchanged penalties.

HALFTIME: Gold Coast 4 drawn with Central 4

The first set of six from Central in the second half showed plenty of promise, as their forwards started to get over the top of a Gold Coast pack which had lost Mat Toschak with a suspected groin strain shortly before the break. Gold Coast weren't to be outdone however, and from their first set of six, Danny Buderus cut open Central like a hot knife through butter. The bust had Gold Coast on the attack, and it was only a matter of time before Damien Driscoll crashed over to make it 8-4. Johns missed the conversion.

Both sides exchanged promising passages in the next ten minutes, with Tommy O'Reilly particularly dangerous for Gold Coast, whilst bench players Scott Donald and Frank Puletua made inroads for Central. Little known second rower Tyler Durden proved the most valuable interchange however, making a bust and chipping ahead to give Scott Sattler an unlikely try. It may have been luck, but good teams create their own, and it was level again at 8 all.

The try against the run of play seemed to crush Gold Coast's resolve, and from the kick-off it was Craig Wing who punished some slow marker defence. A bullet-pass from Wing found Gregan out wide, who put his side ahead by barging over a despairing Paul Bowman tackle to make it 12-8. Shayne nailed it, and it was 14-8. A ten point turnaround in the space of two minutes!

Nathan Cayless and Josh Perry sought to lift their side's flagging spirits in the next few sets of six, but the ploy came undone when Josh Perry was placed on report for lifting Scott Donald. Shayne further punished Perry, adding two points to his side's score to make it 16-8 in the 58th.

If Scott Donald was sore after his spear tackle, he didn't show it, cutting Gold Coast's defence to ribbons moments later on a dancing fifty metre run. Andrew Johns took it upon himself to end the run, knocking Donald for six with a solid low tackle. Even Johns' tackle couldn't lift Gold Coast, Sean Rudder using a priceless dummy to confuse Tommy O'Reilly and score out wide to make it 22-8.

Nothing was going right for Gold Coast, and even the injection of Tommy Martyn into the game didn't lift the Crusade's spirits. Josh Perry tried his heart out with some solid hits and good runs, but everytime something fell apart for Gold Coast. Dropped balls, miss-timed passes, or bad decisions continually thwarted Gold Coast's attempts to save their season.

As the clock wound down, the Crusade were resigned to losing the match, but to their credit- tried to the last. Scott Donald's scintillating performance was finally rewarded in the 77th when he bagged his own try from a Terry Hill offload- the score embarassing at 28-8.

Central were guaranteed a Grand Final berth, and let their guard down a little, allowing Chris McKenna to score a late try and save some face- leaving the game at 28-14. The siren went, and Gold Coast left the field dejected as Central celebrated.

FULLTIME
Central Phoenix 28
Sean Rudder
Scott Donald
Scott Sattler
George Gregan
Shayne 6/7
def.
Gold Coast Crusade 14
Chris McKenna
Damien Driscoll
Johns 3/4

PoM Points:
Sean Rudder............3
Scott Donald............2
Tyler Durden............1