Star and Pirates Old Boys have advanced to the Galbraith Shield final this Saturday at Les George Oval after winning their Southland Premier Grade semifinals.
The top qualifiers, Star, beat Woodlands 31-21 at Les George Oval.
Star opened the scoring with a penalty goal before Woodlands scored the game’s first try. Woodlands had a man sent to the sin-bin for the 10 minutes before halftime, which proved costly.
Star scored right on halftime to lead 17-10. The crucial blow came straight after the resumption when Star scored again. The favourites got out to a 31-7 lead before Woodlands scored two converted tries.
Woodlands coach Richard Jones said the game was a good contest.
"We had a good dig and played a bit of footy but they’re a strong side and deserved the win."
Halfback Liam Howley was Woodlands best and fullback Kynan Stowers-Smith also put in a quality 80 minutes.
Howley had missed the majority of the season due to a hernia and Stowers was coming back from a dislocated shoulder. Wing Drew Carter and No8 Cole Williams also played well.
Woodlands were without Stags prop Paula Latu and No8 Blair Ryall on Saturday after they were ruled out with minor injuries.
Jones was proud of how his squad performed this year.
"We had a good group, plenty of young guys. We had a ton of injuries but everyone stepped up."
The second semifinal was also played out at Oreti Park on Saturday between Pirates Old Boys and Eastern Northern Barbarians.
A quality second-half performance from Pirates Old Boys led to them winning 26-18.
Old Boys first five Greg Dyer scored the game’s first try from close range but the Barbarians soon took charge with midfielder Angus Simmers punching through the defence and lock Woody Kirkwood earning plenty of lineout ball.
Halfback Connor Collins and wing Sheamus McGuigan scored tries and a penalty goal to Ben McCarthy had the Baabaas in front 15-5 at halftime.
McCarthy kicked another goal straight after the resumption before the momentum swung. Pirates Old Boys dominated territory and possession and forced the under-pressure Baabaas into giving up penalties.
Replacement forward Ben Keenan scored in the corner and a penalty goal from Dyer reduced the margin 18-13. Blindside Dusty Coveney barged over for a converted try and Dyer kicked a penalty goal and a drop goal to round out the scoring.
Barbarians coach Bretton Taylor said his team was outplayed in the second half.
"There was no lack of effort but we struggled to exit cleanly and had to make too many tackles. Our loosies tackled to a stand-still. We are disappointed but that’s footy. We had a good enough team to win but we couldn’t."
The Albion women’s team beat Blues 20-12 in their semifinal and will play against the top-qualifier Star this Saturday in the curtain-raiser match on Les George Oval at noon. Star beat Wakatipu 41-0 in their semifinal.
The division one round-robin competition came to a close last week. The top qualifiers, Waikaka-Riversdale Vikings will host Pioneer in Waikaka in one semifinal this Saturday and Wyndham will host Edendale.
The Vikings retained the Speights Shield after beating Te Anau 34-5 last weekend. The Vikings made good use of the wind in the first half and built a commanding 24-0 lead. Te Anau displayed determination for the full 80 minutes.
Halfback Ben McKnight expertly directed the Vikings. Openside Blake Tippet made strong carries and was dependable on defence. Wing Zach Hall made good yards each time he had the ball and first five Rowan McKenzie scored two of the five tries.
Wyndham beat Edendale 25-12 in rough weather conditions at Edendale on Friday night. Wyndham pushed through a tough first half and held the majority of possession in the second half to secure the win and earn a home ground semifinal.
Wyndham lock Logan Howe was man of the match, while hooker Mark Kingsbury led from the front. First five Michael Robinson converted two of his team’s three tries and landed two penalty goals.
Edendale played well enough and remain confident of reversing this result this weekend. Edendale’s best was openside Coebie Symes. First five Bram Fodie and prop Jacob Waide also did their part. Halfback Connor Millane played his 100th game for the Magpies.
Albion beat Tokanui 21-20 down at Tokanui. This was both teams’ last game of the season. Albion had five wins and a draw from their 12 games.
In the division two semifinals, Riverton will start favourites at home against Mossburn and Waikiwi will host Midlands on Saturday.
- By John Langford
