GROUP SEVEN
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Jamberoo captain-coach Matt Coelho believes his side passed an important test in Saturday's hard-earned 20-10 victory over Berry-Shoalhaven Heads.
The Superoos' win was their third straight and kept them in fourth spot.
But it wasn't easy.
Berry showed they were serious about winning when fullback Josh Coulter crossed out wide after six minutes for a 4-0 lead.
The home team responded in the 15th minute with winger Michael Maslanka's unconverted try.
Berry hooker Blake Dryden broke the deadlock with a 55th-minute try and Coulter converted for a 10-4 lead.
Jamberoo hit back with winger Ben Barnard's try which Coelho converted to make it 10-10.
Coelho gave his side its first lead with a try in the corner seven minutes from full-time. He missed the conversion, but the Roos sealed victory with two minutes remaining with Barnard's second try.
Coelho was rapt with his side's poise under pressure.
"It was a good, gutsy win and it was the first real grinding win we've had of the year," he said.
"Berry's a good team and in a couple of years they're going to be an awesome team. They've got a lot of good young players and they stuck to us the whole game. The defence of both teams was unbelievable.
"We've really worked hard on our defence over the past few weeks and it's pleasing to see how it's improved."
The Roos are about to enter a tough three-game stretch against Warilla, Kiama and Shellharbour.
"It's good because we'll see where we're at," Coelho said.