Mudgee Mudcrabs came agonisingly close to ending their 14 year title drought at the NSW Touch Country Championships at Tuggerah.
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Both Mudgee representative sides, mixed open and women's 30s, made their respective finals but were unable to claim victory.
The mixed side went down 7-4 to Wallsend, while the women's 30s lost in heartbreaking fashion.
With the scores locked up at 2-all against their rivals, the Maitland Redbacks, Mudgee was awarded a penalty tap after the full-time siren.
With drop-off looming, Mudgee chanced their arm with a long ball to the wing, however it did not pay off.
A Redbacks player managed to intercept the pass and run half the length of the field to win the game, 3-2.
It was a deflating end to what was a superb campaign for the Mudgee women.
After winning one match at last month's Hornets Championships, Mudgee went through the preliminary rounds undefeated.
They twice beat Central Coast 6-2 and 4-1, before defeating Jerrabomberra 4-1 and Newcastle 4-2.
Mudgee met Central Coast for a third time over the weekend, however this was in the semi-final. The Mudcrabs were victorious again 6-2 before going down in the final.
The team will be buoyant by their strong showing at Tuggerah and will be looking to build on their momentum for December's State Cup.
Similar to the women's 30s team, Mudgee's mixed side were undefeated up until the grand final where injuries, tired legs and a well-drilled Wallsend team got the better of the Mudcrabs.
Mudgee had big wins in the preliminary rounds, 7-2 Forster Tuncurry; 8-5 Beresfield; 11-2 and 7-5 against Macksville.
In the semi-final, Mudgee met Port Macquarie, a team that has had the wood over the Mudcrabs at major tournaments in recent years.
Mudgee was not going to let history repeat itself as they defeated the Makos 5-3 to book their spot in the decider.
Wallsend got off to a flying start in the final, jumping out to a 2-0 lead.
Mudgee fought back and at 4-3, it seemed the Mudcrabs might just have enough to win their first country title since 2005.
But, momentum was with the Wolves and the coastal side ran out 7-4 winners.
