YMP answered with a try between the posts to second-five Louis Devery. They had built up pressure, and a dummy runner that forced Ngatapa's defence to rush up and splinter meant Devery had an easy path to score.
YMP scored their second try shortly after, through centre Jayden Milner. Devery found the outside shoulder and brushed off one defender and offloaded as he fell in the tackle, dragged down by two Ngatapa players. Devery's work meant Milner only had to catch the ball to score in the corner.
In an odd turn of events, Ngatapa prop Campbell Chrisp and YMP flanker Shyann Wyllie were yellow-carded at the same time, but for different offences, and sat next to each other in the naughty chairs.
Wyllie had no mouthguard in and got his marching orders while Chrisp was shown his card for lazy running that led to his committing a professional offside foul.
The second 20 minutes of the first half were an arm-wrestle for possession and territory, with the only scoring play a Ngatapa penalty kicked by Patricio.
The teams went into halftime with YMP leading 12-10. The spirit and passion could be heard from the sidelines as the coaches called fore every ounce of passion and willpower the players had left.
Both teams played to their strengths throughout, and it would be a test of who could impose their will on the other.
Ngatapa's scrum was strong, and saved them many times in their red zone, while YMP's skill in broken play was dangerous and exciting.
YMP coach Brian Leach said his team had to dig deep for the second week in a row to get the win.
“In the first 20 minutes of the second half, Ngatapa came back at us. It takes a big heart and a big effort to come back from that.”
The green-and-whites started the second half with vigour and spent long periods attacking in the YMP half, but they could muster only five points for their efforts.
Patricio scored his team's final try of the season in what was a full team effort. Ngatapa worked the ball forward, pressuring the advantage line with every carry, before moving the ball to the right with a series of pick-and-go moves and one-off runners. The attack thinned the YMP defence enough for Patricio to saunter through a gap and score close to the posts.
Patricio missed the conversion attempt for his own try and a penalty from in front that would have stretched the Ngatapa lead out to two scoring plays.
YMP looked like they were under the gun as the game entered its final 20 minutes, but a series of substitutions turned the tide.
Peia Fililava made a massive impact off the bench as reserve first-five once again.
Coming on at a time when the fast pace of the game left both teams taking deep breaths during breaks in play, his influence and playmaking lifted the YMP side, giving them the structure they needed.
Next came what Ngatapa coach Stephen Hickey called the winning play of the game. It was “that one bit of individual brilliance from Andrew (Tauatevalu)”.
The try came off a set-piece, where the ball was worked the ball to the right-hand side before Tauatevalu used his pace to get on the outside shoulder of the defence and put in a chip-and-chase to the line.
He chased down his kick and used his strength to wrestle to ground and score, reaching the ball shoulder to shoulder with the defence.
The try put YMP two points up with 10 minutes on the clock, but they didn't sit on their laurels. They put the game beyond reach with one final try to Fililava.
The black-and-whites built up a strong series of phases through their forwards rumbling up the middle. That set up a base for the backs, who gained good metres themselves as they moved the ball across the width of the pitch.
Noticing a mismatch in the defence, Fililava dummied the Ngatapa players as he stepped inside through the gap to reach out and score next to the posts.
In the final minutes of the match, Ngatapa scrapped to keep the game alive, but YMP held out.
Hickey said it was “gut-wrenching” to go out in the semifinals but he congratulated his team for the heart they showed, and the YMP side for their victory.
“It's a big building-block for the team this year,” he said.
“Hopefully, that'll roll on into 2021.”
