For their part, the Tigers had to travel to Laurieton to face a buoyant Camden Haven Redbacks side who midweek had inflicted a first premier league defeat on premiers Wallis Lake.

The winner of Saturday’s match would claim second place on the table and a crucial home semifinal the following week.

In beautiful conditions the Tigers started the match brightly, pressuring the Redbacks’ defensive line and making good use of the wide pitch when in possession.

As expected the home side set up a solid defensive block, needing only a draw to secure the coveted home ground advantage for the following week.

However after two great scoring chances, one on the end of a mazy run by Jake Camilleri, the Tigers eventually took the lead through Matt Whight who finished strongly with his right foot from close range 20 minutes in.

The Tigers perhaps should have doubled their lead when good lead up play from the visitors saw Jack Yeates in the clear, but his attempted lob went agonisingly wide.

A couple of chances came the home side’s way as well, but James McBribe looked very solid in the Tigers’ goal, and Pete Goonan was marshalling his defence very well.

At one goal to the good at half time, the Tigers were urged to maintain their defensive discipline, and to continue to explore the width of the pitch.

As expected the Redbacks were not going to go down without a fight, and, urged on by their vocal home crowd, changed formation slightly to increase the pressure on the Tigers defence.

A reshuffled back four of Goonan along with Jake Bindon, Zac Mooney and Joey Newman was up to the task, aided by a very strong defensive performance by Cody Chick and tireless running from Jaidyn Kianou. Camilleri, Yeates and Whight still posed a big threat to the home side though and the Redbacks found it difficult to involve their wide defenders in their attacking plays, although they almost found an equaliser through one of their central defenders who tested McBride from distance, with his parried save looping overhead and onto the roof of the net.

McBride was again called into action shortly after, diving low to his right to turn a well-struck effort wide.

With both teams tiring the game became stretched, and Daniel Barry could have made the game safe as he cut back inside his marker, only to see his goal-bound left foot shot cleared by a second covering defender.

The last legitimate scoring chance came in the last minute when a great cross by the Redbacks eluded the despairing dive of one of their strikers.

Final score Camden Haven Redbacks 0 TFFC Tigers 1.

Pete Goonan was player’s player for the Tigers, with strong showings by Zac Mooney and Joey Newman.

The win saw the Tigers claim the desired second place on the ladder, their highest finish in first grade to this date and marking a huge improvement since rejoining the league last season but missing the finals in 2016.

Assistant coach Tim Barber said “we’ve had to overcome a few hurdles this season to get to this point, so to finish a clear second just three points behind the leaders is more than we would have hoped for at the start of the season, and a great credit to the players and coaching staff.

Now the fun begins - anything is possible from here on in”.

In other matches, Kempsey Saints sent Wallis Lake tumbling to their second straight loss 1-2 in a must-win match for the Saints, which sees them finish in fourth place.

Macleay Valley Rangers had to beat Port FC by a clear eight goals to pinch the final spot in the finals from Taree, who could only sit and watch as they had the bye.

At 5-0 up at halftime it looked like a miracle might happen, but the Rangers could only muster a 7-1 win, missing out on the five by goal difference alone.

In the final match of the round Port United drew 2-2 with Port Saints.

The finals series then sees Wallis Lake enjoy a weekend off as TFFC takes on the Redbacks at Tuncurry in the major semifinal, while Kempsey Saints will host the Wildcats in the elimination semifinal.

Reserve grade

The Tigers grabbed a deserved second place in reserve grade as well on Saturday with a narrow 3-2 win over a feisty Redbacks reserves.

An early goal to Daniel Barry looked like it might open the floodgates but the home side clawed their way back into it and began to dominate the game after equalising soon after.

Mick Youngberry gave the Tigers a half time lead though against the run of play.

The Redbacks were the next to score following a free kick, but Adam Christensen made the game safe with a solid finish after a great pass from Barry.

Adam Christensen was player’s player.

The Tigers reserves now wait for the arrival of the Macleay Valley Rangers reserves in the major semifinal at Tuncurry on Saturday.