Whangaroa College will play off for the Plate in the Adam Blair Cup after upsetting Combined in the final round.
Whangaroa College will play off for the Plate in the Adam Blair Cup after upsetting Combined in the final round.
Dargaville High School and Combined Colleges (Taipa Area School and Abundant Life, Kaitaia) have progressed through the Northland Secondary Schools rugby league competition and will compete in the Grand Final for the Adam Blair Trophy at Trigg Arena.
Dargaville hosted Okaihau College and could have been excused for thinking itwas going to be one-way traffic from the kick off.
Northern Swords representative and team captain Hoani Rogers-Brown showed deft footwork up the middle to step around several players.
He offloaded to a flying Ethan Sherwood who raced 50 metres to score under the post within the first minute of the game.
Okaihau regathered quickly and took the traditional route of hard yards with prop Michael Selwyn leading the way and using ball possession to work the host's goal-line before centre Reuben Bradley crossed and levelled the score by converting his own try.
The visitors repeated that formula to take the lead for the only time of the match before Dargaville kicked into gear to score three times to lead 20-12 at the break.
The hosts scored first after the break through their captain but the gap in score only urged Okaihau on as tough arm wrestle ensued with centre Bradley scoring his second and giving the visitors much needed hope.
However, it was fast-running second rower Siuaki Lisiale who scored next for Dargaville breaking the deadlock to put the game out of reach for a brave Okaihau.
The upset loss to Whangaroa College last week set Combined College on track for their first Grand Final appearance in the Secondary School Finals.
Bream Bay took the long trip to Taipa to go down by two points to the hosts in a close encounter to end their impressive showing in this year's competition.
The young team's progress has been admirable and if the team is able to stick together next year will offer a formidable challenge for the top prize.
