THERE were wild scenes at Viking Park yesterday as the Eastern Suburbs club charged into its first ACT rugby grand final in 35 years.
The celebrations erupted after Easts, which trailed for much of the match, downed Royals 36-30 in the preliminary final.
At the start of the John I Dent Cup season even the Easts coach and captain were sceptical about their team's chances of making the grand final.
The club hasn't been in the grand final since 1973 and it hasn't won the premiership since 1947.
Both clubs traded blows in the first half and it wasn't until the final 10 minutes that Easts secured a spot in the season decider.
And coach John Osborne had a message for defending premier Queanbeyan, which marched into the grand final last week.
''Our players didn't care about the grand final,'' he said. ''All we wanted was another shot at Queanbeyan and now we've got it.''
Easts lost to Queanbeyan 17-12 in the major semi-final last week but Osborne said his team believed it could reverse the result. ''They came out and said they dominated the game and their forwards dominated ours,'' Osborne said.
''We lost by five points and the two tries they did get were from our kick mistakes. Then the coach comes out and says the comfort zone would be to play Easts. That was our motivation.
''I didn't have to remind our blokes how much we wanted to win, the Queanbeyan guys did that for us and we will be there and ready for them next week.''
Just three points separated Easts and Royals at half-time yesterday.
Both teams scored two tries and neither could gain any dominance over the other in the first half.
But when Jason Swain scored for Royals 10 minutes into the second half it appeared his team had finally broken the shackles.
However tries to John Duggan, Jim Crompton and Dwayne Hitchens established Easts' match-winning margin.
Easts captain Jack Vanderglas has watched and played in losing teams since he was six-years-old.
At the start of the season the 25-year-old thought his chances of playing in the finals were almost non-existent.
Now he says there is no reason why he can't be the captain lifting the premiership cup.
''I'll be honest, [at the start of the season] I didn't think we could make the finals,'' Vanderglas said.
''In past years I've always said, 'Imagine that. Imagine being in that Easts side that plays in that grand final.
''I really can't believe it has happened to me.
''But we haven't won a grand final yet. Queanbeyan are a great side so we've got a lot of work to do, but I really think we can do it if the guys dig deep.''
AT A GLANCEJohn I Dent Cup, preliminary final: EASTS 36 (H Vanderglas, J Osborne, J Duggan, J Crompton, D Hitchens tries; B Hewitt 4 conversions; J Osborne field goal) bt ROYALS 30 (K Lolotonga, J Swain, AJ Abel tries; C McMahon 3 penalties, 3 conversions)
SATURDAY
John I Dent Cup Grand Final: Queanbeyan Whites v Easts at Viking Park, 3pm
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