Central Washington's 29-26 defeat of Saint Mary's headlines the DIA results of the weekend.

The Wildcats ut Saint Mary's under pressure throughout the game and even when they saw their lead disappear, responded with intensity to regain the lead. This was CWU's first-ever win over Saint Mary's. 

Oscar Treacy got the Wildcats on the board in the 17th minute with a try, but perhaps the biggest part of that was a goalline stand a few minutes earlier to keep the Gaels out.

The try itself came off a bit of a freak play. Flyhalf Ollie Cline popped a kick from just inside his half that bounced into touch. Before a 50-22 could be called, the Gaels opted for a quick lineout, the throw rolled into touch, and Treacy, on the chase dove on it. Try given and a 5-0 lead.

Saint Mary's got out of trouble from a five-meter scrum, and when they earned a penalty at midfield, kicked touch for the lineout. From there the Gaels mauled it and from the back of the maul prop and captain Joe Marchant popped off and ran in from about nine meters out. The touchline conversion by scrumhalf Hunter Modlin was good and it was 7-5 Saint Mary's.

With the first half looming Cline added a penalty goal to put the Wildcats back in front 8-7.

The second half was a bit wilder. Right from the kickoff CWU scored when a loose Saint Mary's pass was scooped up and after a few surges to the line, lock Liam Holland burst onto a pass and was over. Cline converted and it was 15-7 CWU. The Wildcats defense held on helped by a couple of silly Saint Mary's errors, but through the middle part of the second half it was Saint Mary's that held most of the run of play.

Some good pressure and a quick tap by Dom Besag almost saw the Gaels over, and finally Erich Storti picked the ball out of a ruck right on the tryline to score. Modlin's conversion made it 15-14.

Central answered well with a superb maul that split the Saint Mary's pack and put Marques Fuala'au over Cline converted and it was 22-14. Down but not out, Saint Mary's responded. Some slick ball handling in damp conditions set up Besag to fend off a tackler and dive in. And then Inoke Waqavesi unveils some filthy footwork, sidestepping and crsuing around and by five players to score the go-ahead try.

Conversion good and Saint Mary's is up 26-22. 

But with a little over 10 minutes to go, Central had time. They got into the Gaels' 22 only to be stymied and find themselves defending a scrum at their own 22-meter-line. The Gaels threw everything they had at the Wildcats but were stopped. Finally Modlin opted to take a penalty, but his effort drifted wide.

The Wildcats got out of that and worked their way back into Gaels territory with time winding down. Central got close, were stopped, but were called back for a penalty, and there fullback Connor Grande tapped and sent a quick pass out to wing Mitchell Hirose, who dove in to score. The conversion wasn't needed, but Cline put it over from the touchline anyway.

It was a startling result from Central Washington, on the road, against one of the best teams in the nation.

"It was a massive effort from both sides and credit to the Gaels as they were all over us for most of the game," said Central Washington Head Coach Todd Thornley. "They're a great side who deserved to win as much as we did, but that's how it goes sometimes. Our guys stuck at it and got the job done right at the death. We cannot wait to get home and end this road swing with some games at Tomlinson."