The Queanbeyan Tigers and Belconnen Magpies clash on Saturday afternoon produced all of the drama that was expected from the second and third-ranked teams.
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Unfortunately for the home side at Allinsure Park, the visitors ran out winners by a slim 10 point margin in a scintillating contest.
Despite the result, Tigers coach Adrian Pavese said he thought his side played "really, really well".
"It's the best performance we've had this year against them," Pavese said.
"We had it pretty much all game, it's unfortunate we let ourselves down in the last quarter with a couple of things.
"Tough to take, but at least we know we're near the mark."
'Near' is an understatement from Pavese. Throughout the season, there has been little to separate the Tigers and Magpies.
Belconnen currently sit in second, with Queanbeyan one spot lower, but both teams have a win percentage in the 160s and are split by less than 100 points on for-and-against.
With one round left to go in the season, the Tigers are locked in for finals and can be confident of a strong run.
"The last three or four weeks, we've really turned a corner in the way we want to play," Pavese said.
Ahead of finals, Pavese's message to the team is to "keep producing that, and do it for longer".
"Normally, when they had a run on, we'd concede four or five goals. Today we didn't concede too many at all, so I was really happy with that."
This weekend will see the Tigers cap off their season against the top-ranked Ainslie Tricolours. The match will begin from 12.15pm at Allinsure Park on Saturday, August 17.
