KEY POINTS:
There was no feeling of dread for Ben Atiga when referee Paul Marks thrust his arm skywards in the final minute of last night's match.
The 24-year-old knew what was required and knew he had to put his previous failed attempt at goal straight out of his mind.
Luckily for him, he'd managed to quickly assess his own technical failings when he had pulled the ball on earlier attempts. He reckoned he had been lifting his head so when he came to strike the last kick of the match he didn't lift his bonce until the crowd were roaring.
"I knew what I had done wrong on the previous kicks," he said. "I knew I had been lifting my head so I decided I would keep it down and I didn't even look up after I hit it."
If Atiga was nervous, he didn't admit it.
He says he didn't realise what he had done until he turned and saw his team-mates leaping about.
It was a brave final effort, made all the more special by the fact Atiga is the Blues' third-choice goal-kicker.
"That is something I would like to work on and improve," he said.
Matters were also complicated when he took a heavy leg knock mid-way through the second half.
It was bad enough that coach David Nucifora had thought about taking him off but he realised if he had done so, that would have left Jamie Helleur, on his Super 14 debut, having to come into the game cold off the bench and slot the goals.
"Luckily for us Benny braved it out," said Nucifora. "It might have looked like I was watching with my hands over my eyes but you always hope these things go your way and we were lucky."
