Then there were two.
Excelsior has booked its spot in next weekend’s Citizens Shield final after a tight 26-24 win over Old Boys in Oamaru on Saturday.
Blues forwards rolled up their sleeves and dominated the set piece and breakdown areas to lay a platform for the victory.
In the end, unforced errors and discipline hurt Old Boys big time.
Despite this, they were the first team in the scoreboard.
From an overthrown lineout, Sailosi Vea grabbed the ball and shot through a gap to open the scoring.
But Blues were able to hit back through Colati Ravula after some nice phase play from their forward pack.
Old Boys regained the lead against the run of play shortly after.
Off a Blues scrum just 20m out from the line, the ball hit the deck and Mavaetangi Finau scooped it up and headed down field.
He was caught from behind, but was able to recycle the ball and put Sione Finau over the line.
Consistent pressure in Old Boys’ 22 saw Blues eventually crack the defence as Jim Tawaketini muscled his way over.
Josh Phipps knocked over a penalty kick just before and just after halftime to extend their lead to eight.
Junior Fakatoufifita set up Old Boys’ next try as he was able to bust through two tackles and then throw an inside ball to Mavaetangi Finau, who crashed over.
Another two penalties for Phipps kept the scoreboard ticking over for Blues.
Needing to be the next to score, Old Boys were finally able to crack Blues defence through Villiami Kefu.
Tom Lee added the conversion to make it a two-point game with only a handful of minutes to play.
A crooked lineout throw from Blues in the final stages of the match had Old Boys in a scrum in their own 22 and one last roll of the dice.
They worked their way down field into the red zone.
They chanced their arm with a cross kick but were not able to gather the ball.
The Blues player was bundled into touch and the game was over.
Blues captain Mat Duff was in the thick of everything as always.
Phipps and Tyron Davies controlled the game well while Tayne Russell was rock solid in the midfield.
