Tumut respond to set up massive grand final clash with Gundagai

The two arch rivals have never played off for the title but will do so for the first time at Equex Centre on Sunday.

Minor premiers Tumut were forced to do it the hard way after Gundagai handed them their first loss of the season.

However the Blues were definitely not ripe for the picking as they took a 22-8 win over Young at Anzac Park.

Tumut held their rivals scoreless in the second half on Sunday to set up the grudge match.

Co-coach Dean Bristow was thrilled with how the team responded coming off their lone loss of the season.

"As defending premiers you never want to go out the back door so to do it the hard way back to get back into the grand final is great," Bristow said.

Tumut fired out of the blocks as Adam Pearce scored after three minutes and extended their lead when Jordan Anderson, who was cleared by the judiciary during the week, went over from dummy half after 19 minutes.

Their start thrilled Bristow but a double to Tom Jenkins put the 'Pickers back in the hunt to make it 12-8 just before half-time.

Leading by four at the break, Tumut cut down the error rate in the second half to regain their superiority.

The Blues refused to let the ball die as Matt Richards completed a remarkable try eight minutes into the second half after taking an Anderson kick just inside the touch line before offloading to Tevita Aroha-Tuinauvai before the veteran got it back again.

Zac Masters then ensured there would be no comeback from Young as he crossed with 17 minutes to play.

Tumut will welcome back suspended co-coach Lachlan Bristow for a fourth meeting between the two arch rivals.

Nothing separates the two sides, who had a draw to start the season before consecutive two-point results went either way.

"You couldn't have scripted it," Bristow said. "That will be four games this season.

"There has been nothing between us all year so hopefully we turn up and get the better of them on the day that counts."

After an 8-6 loss to Gundagai last week, Bristow was thrilled with the way Tumut responded to end Young's winning streak.

The Cherrypickers hadn't lost in their last four games, as they looked to win through to the club's first grand final appearance since 1998, but struggled to rise to the intensity of a preliminary final.

Tumut have struggled to back up after games against Gundagai but after being given a freshen up through the week Bristow was thrilled with how they came out to address the task at hand.

"We got off to a good start and I don't know if we went into second gear and thought it was going to happen but we responded well in the tough moments in the second half," he said.

"We did enough to control the lead and control the win so our resilience in the tough moments was probably what pleased me most."