Mittagong under-18 Lions finished with a close 28-26 win and will face Appin Dogs this weekend.

It was a slow start from Mittagong who were kept scoreless until after halftime.

Lions captain Ben Powell said it was a stressful match.

“They [Narellan] had way more possession in our half than we did in theirs,” he said.

“We weren’t running in pairs but we defended well in the first half.”

Powell said he reminded the team at the break it could be their last half of football for the year, with several players ineligible to play under-18s next year.

“I said don’t leave anything in the tank because it could be our last half of footy. That fired everyone up,” he said.

The Lions scored first in the second half before dropping the ball in the next set which allowed the Jets to score again.

Two late tries got Mittagong over the line and Nick Eccleston scored the winning points in the final minutes of the match.

Powell scored another hat-trick while Joey Foster also crossed the try line.

Byron Pinkerton was also crucial in the Lions’ victory, missing just the one conversion.

“Everyone played pretty well,” Powell said.

Mittagong will face the Dogs at Appin this Saturday and Powell said no matter who they played, the Lions planned to win.

“We need to work on organisation in attack. We were pretty unorganised in attack so we need to have better talk when the opposition is attacking the line,” Powell said.

He thanked the under-16 players who backed up for the team in Saturday’s match, which Powell said many of them had done throughout the season.

Kick off for the game will be 2pm at Appin Park.

In the other semi-final Camden Rams will take on the Thirlmere Roosters.

The Robertson Spuds and Moss Vale Dragons will also be in action this weekend.