Armidale was bundled out of the finals after a 35-32 loss to the Inverell Hawks in Saturday’s minor semi-final.

The Rams had a chance to tie the scores 90 seconds from full time after Shaun Cox, pictured above, finished off a brilliant backline move in the right corner and gave sharpshooter Fred Waters a sideline conversion to level the scores at 34 apiece.

Waters’ kick looked wide off the boot before swinging back, but it didn’t come back far enough and missed the right upright by only centimetres.

Inverell then regained possession and kicked a field goal inside the final minute to seal the win.

When asked if it was heartbreaking to lose in those circumstances, a shattered Rams president Terry Carson replied: “that’s one way to describe it”.

“It just wasn’t to be,” he continued.

“But it was still a successful season.

“It was a good step forward and puts us in good stead for next year.”

The Hawks led throughout the game, but the Rams never let them get out of reach.

Penalties and handling errors cruelled the Rams, who looked dominant at stages during the match.

“We were always chasing them,” Carson said. “We didn’t so much to help ourselves but.”

It was arguably the most physical match seen in Group 19 this season as two huge forward packs battled it out in the middle third of the field.

“Both teams forward packs were very good,” Carson said.

The Rams’ Fijian connection Josh Koroibulu and Apakuki Mate were again outstanding and made countless yards through the middle.

“Josh was our best,” Carson said.

“Kuki was good off the bench too.

“He gave us some good impact.”

Meanwhile the Uralla Tigers have two sides through to the grand final after a successful day at Moree for the major semi-finals.

Both the ladies league-tag and under 18s had tight wins over Glen Innes and now have a weekend off before the travel back to Moree for the grand finals on September 21.