They earned it the hard way on Saturday, falling behind 15-14 with less than 10 minutes to play before cool thinking fly-half Lee Martin saved the day with a 74th-minute penalty goal and 78th-minute field goal.

"It's been like that all year, we never give in," Martin said of his late-game heroics.

"It's just the trend of the club that we fight to the end. We just keep going and it was good to come back and get back in front."

Scores were at 3-3 at half-time before a Martin penalty broke the deadlock 10 minutes after the break.

Minutes later the Tahs seemingly took a firm grip on the match when lock Richard Hoffman scored out wide. Martin's conversion made it 13-3.

But TechTahs' hunch that their opponents would tire at the back end of the game almost backfired when a pair of Jacob Hurst penalty goals and Ryan Lonsdale's try gave Avondale a one-point lead.

"We came out with the right game plan, but I've got to give Avondale credit, because their fitness has just been outstanding the last few games and we obviously focused on their presumed lack of fitness, and that wasn't there," TechTahs coach Paul Darby said.

"It just goes to show if you play 80 minutes of rugby, you'll come away with the goods. It's about who wants it the most and our guys really wanted it."

Indeed, while Tahs fans nervously urged their team to respond to the Wombats' try, the Tahs' senior players called for calm.

If there's one thing you learn about winning three or four premierships, it's the ability to think rationally under pressure and avoid panicking.