Unheralded finalists have one more mountain to go

Rugby is an unpredictable game, says Wellsford coach Hayden Ferris.
At the beginning of the season not many followers would have  bet Wellsford and Mid Western would clash in  the Southern Districts Premier final at Maungakaramea Domain on Saturday.
After six years in the first division, Wellsford made the semifinals for their fourth consecutive year  and faced Mid Northern at Hukerenui last weekend.
Wellsford  triumphed in extra time 18-13 - a big  breakthrough for  the club including skipper Scott Brady and Ferris.
"While it's a breakthrough,  it doesn't really mean a lot if we don't finish it off," Ferris said.
"It's a cliche but we climbed a bit of a mountain on Saturday. But we don't want to finish there and Mid Western will be thinking the same thing."
Because of their  home-ground advantage and having defeated Wellsford in  the round robin games and  qualified one spot ahead in third, it would be fair to say Mid Western  would be the favourites heading into the match, Ferris said.
Wellsford had   few injury niggles from last Saturday's 100 minutes of footy, Ferris said and most of his regular side were confident  about heading to Maungakaramea and giving it a good crack against Mid Western.
"You cannot predict what's going to happen in a game like this except both teams will be giving it 100 per cent. It will be the team which makes the best use of their chances and sticks to their game plan who will prevail," Ferris said.
Captain and halfback Adam Clarke  is one of  many newbies  at Mid Western this year and said  they realised what a huge deal  making the final was - Mid Western's first appearance since 1962.
An injury-free, full-strength Mid Western  will line up.  Although the team have gone better playing away games this season, Clarke said the anticipated large crowd would have both sides amped.
After shifting up from second division only two seasons ago, Mid Western defied all odds last week at Hora Hora Park, beating last year's champions 15-16.
However, Clarke warned his side they needed to come back down to earth for the grand final.
"We are always confident heading into a game but after the high of last week we really need to work on staying grounded this week which won't be hard as us and Wellsford will be pumped."
Northland Rugby operations manager Greg Shipton said that for the fifth year running,  six teams  had chased  semifinal berths,  showing how even the competition was.
"It's no surprise these two teams are in the final. Wellsford have been in the semis for a few years now and Mid Western are the new boys on the block who have a good club spirit ... it's going to be an awesome day."
Kick-off is at 2.30pm at Maungakaramea Domain on Saturday while Mid Northern clash with Hora Hora at Hukerenui Rugby Club for the final of the Southern Districts Premier Reserve grade, at 12.30pm.