Mid Western fullback Tristian Rawcliffe scores in the corner versus Mid Northern. Photo/ John Stone
Mid Western fullback Tristian Rawcliffe scores in the corner versus Mid Northern. Photo/ John Stone
An upset 34-17 win for Mid Western against table toppers Mid Northern has sent the Hukerenui side home with work to do ahead of the semifinals this weekend.
Under the glaze of a splendid mid-winters day at Maungakaramea, Mid Western wasted little time in taking down the might of MidNorthern - who have been a thorn in the side of many teams this season.
Outperforming their visitors on attack and matching them in the forwards, Mid Western's sharp backline capitalised on important attacking opportunities to stride away with a comfortable win in front of their home crowd.
"The backline went really well - we just tried to be direct today, gain metres and get our forwards and loosies into the game," Mid Western coach Danny Woodcock said.
Playing with little to lose, except a few players to injury, Mid Northern coach Craig Edwards said his side knew the round-14 matchup would be difficult.
"Mid Western, they wanted the win more than us," he said.
Reflecting on errors in a post-match briefing, Edwards outlined "spilt ball" and "not reading the game right" as the defining factors to their loss.
Slipping into the fourth and final playoff spot by the tightest of margins, Woodcock hinted his current side is one of the best they've fielded this year.
"We're ready for it. Today we just concentrated on holding the ball, we played the ball in hand.
"We're getting a few guys coming back at the right time I think. The good thing for us is all our good players are available now."
Mid Western will go on to play Wellsford in the semis, and if Wellsford's 17-35 loss to Old Boys Marist at the weekend is anything to go by, the battle of first versus fourth will be manic.
In other matches of the round, Otamatea gained a solid 56-12 win over Hikurangi to round-off a successful run of footy since the Queen's Birthday weekend break.
Managing to secure wins over season-leaders Mid Northern, Wellsford and Mid Western, a steady run toward the playoffs has put Otamatea in a commanding position going into their semifinal versus Mid Northern at Hukerenui.
The remaining matches of the round saw Waipu finish their season with a bang after beating the Western Sharks 36-34 at Caledonian Park.
Hora Hora also finished strongly, securing a hefty 54-27 win over the winless Kamo.
Semifinals:
Premiers: Mid Northern vs Otamatea; Wellsford vs Mid Western;
Reserves: Mid Northern vs Hora Hora; Otamatea vs Wellsford;
