By MARK CASHMAN

Easts Tigers continued their golden run in championship games when they defeated Gordon 14-13 in the Australian Club Championship match at David Wilson Field in Brisbane on Saturday.

Scrumhalf Eli Pilz kicked the winning penalty goal five minutes into extra time to give the Tigers yet another piece of silverware to throw into their already well-stocked trophy cabinet.

The Hospital Challenge Cup champions won six out of the six grand finals that they played in Brisbane last year and the robust support that was evident in Brisbane on Saturday showed that they are a club on the move that knows how to win.

But late in the game it appeared that Shute Shield champions Gordon would be grabbing the trophy on their up-and-back-in-a-day mission to the game.

With Gordon leading 13-11, a penalty on the other side of halfway and the booming boot of Shane Kennedy enabled the Tigers to grab some field position and a chance at the impossible.

The Tigers forwards then rallied after being bashed up a bit at scrum time for much of the second half and managed to force a penalty from the desperate Highlanders.

This was a hell of a game of rugby for this time of the year and the calls throughout the day for this game to be played a week after the Sydney and Brisbane grand finals make a hell of a lot of sense.

Throw some prize money on the table and whether it was in Sydney or Brisbane it would draw a big, such is the sexiness of club rugby on the footy landscape at the moment.

The game was played in 30 plus degrees temperature and according to Wallabies great Tim Horan who was part of the Stan Sport team calling the game the humidity must have been in the high 90s.

None the less it was a quality game of footy and Gordon can consider themselves unlucky not to be able to manage their way through the last couple of minutes.

Gordon drew first blood when Ellis Abrahams scored from a kick that he charged down to give the Highlanders a 5-0 lead.

From that point though the Tigers stepped up to the plate and had much of the possession and field position but all they were able to come away with before the break was a penalty goal from Pilz.

After the break the home side managed to tighten up the scoreline with another Pilz penalty goal before they hit the front thanks to some good work from the Tigers pack and some sharp stepping from Aidan Toua.

That made the score 11-10 but there was more drama to follow with Reece MacDonald, who was lively at No.10 for Gordon, nudging his side to a 13-11 lead and seemingly the silverware.

But as they say it ain’t over until it’s over and the never say die Tigers stepped up.

Scores:

EASTS TIGERS 14 (Aidan Toua try; Eli Pilz 3 pen goals) d GORDON 13 (Ellis Abrahams, Brandon Fa’ava Eli tries: Reece MacDonald pen goal) at David Wilson Field.

IMAGE: QRU MEDIA