RUGBY LEAGUE: EITSA stick to plan for final

HAMISH BIDWELL
Well, we've got the match everyone's been waiting for.
From the get-go of the 2006 Eastern Alliance, it's been fairly clear that EITSA and the Paikea Whalers were a class above everybody else and now they'll meet in the competition decider at Gisborne's Awapuni Stadium on Saturday.
EITSA have had to go the harder route, playing Te Rangatahi o Omahu in the weekend's last grand final qualifier, which they eventually won 38-32.
But don't let the scoreline fool you. EITSA had the game by the throat from practically the opening whistle and it was simply a case of them going through the motions for 80 minutes in order to advance.
They did that reasonably well, although you'd have to say their goal line defence was pretty ordinary.
But they won - which is all that counts, and now we can all look forward to a drive up the coast.
"I think we dominated in most facets of the game although we spilt some pretty simple ball," said EITSA coach Alan Mason.
"Our goal has always been to get through to the final and now we're there. After our double-header a couple of weeks back, we were ultra-confident of winning our first semi-final and going straight through to the final.
"But Paikea brought their A-game and even though I thought my guys played really well, crucial decisions cost us.
"At the time, you can get all flustered, but looking back now, it was just football and things like that have happened time and time again in my career and you just learn to live with it."
As Mason eluded to, he and his EITSA team were angry at losing 30-28 to the Whalers in the first grand final qualifier. They let peripheral things upset them, but he says they've dealt with those and, come Saturday, he's promising they'll be a far more composed outfit.
"Our focus this week will be on going into the game low-key," he said.
"We just want to get up there and play the game and to treat it as just another day at the office.
"We don't want to get emotional and get caught up in things. We just want to play the game."
The longer that EITSA-Whalers match went on, the more it resembled a glorified brawl, but with referee Andy Cracknell keeping a 10 metres which generally verged on 20, Saturday's match against Omahu was never in danger of going the same way.
For EITSA standoff Lene Malasia, that space between the two team's was a Godsend. Given room to put footwork on would-be defenders, Malasia is lethal and two of his five tries were simply astonishing.
Omahu tried their hearts out, especially the outstanding Cleveland Kemp but, as player-coach Jeremy Hepi lamented after the match, they were always playing catch-up.
"We never really got any dominace and never really got on top of them," said Hepi.
"We scored the first try after halftime, which was exactly the start we wanted, but they were always one or two tries ahead.