Bundanoon fell just short of the decider after a 20-6 loss against City Kangaroos in the Group 6 second division preliminary final on Saturday night.

It was always going to be a tough match after the Kangaroos beat them by just two points a couple of weeks earlier.

And it proved to be the same story as the last time the two teams met.

Ball handling was again a problem for the defending premiers and coach Chris Conquest said they dropped too much ball in the first half which allowed City to get out to an 18-0 lead.

“Two of those tries were directly off our mistakes,” he said.

The Highlanders were still in the match at halftime and put in a better second half performance to win the half 6-2.

Isaac Martin scored for Bundanoon with Anthony Phelps kicking the conversion.

But the Highlanders couldn’t put enough points on the board to get the win.

“Looking from the start of the season- finishing second and to get one off the grand final was a good result. But once we were so close it was disappointing to fall just short.”

Conquest said Martin, Phelps and Mitchell Conquest had all played well throughout the season and performed consistently well for the Highlanders.