Mid Canterbury overcame their semifinals curse to beat North Otago 38-24 with a dominant second half display in a Heartland Meads Cup rugby semifinal in Ashburton today.
After losing to Wanganui at the same stage for the past two years, things did not start well for Mid Canterburyas North Otago scored their first try after just five minutes when second five-eighth Mike Mavor received a ball on the short side and darted up the sideline.
North Otago halfback Nick Webster was delivering quick ball to his backs to put them on the front foot early on, but a Kieran Lindsay penalty put Mid Canterbury on the board and the home went ahead 10-7 when Jack Umaga scored the first of his three tries under the crossbar.
Mid Canterbury had already beaten North Otago twice this season and tension was high at times, with Mavor sinbinned in the 30th minute for a late tackle on Umaga.
The home side made the most of the one-man advantage and Brenton Connell scored their second try as Mid Canterbury eased out to 17-7 at halftime.
It looked like it was game on when North Otago struck back immediately after the resumption with a try to Jone Paumau.
But they failed to regather the ball from the kickoff, as Mid Canterbury lock Dan Dwyer secured the ball and sent it wide where some fancy ball handling then put Umaga in for his second try.
It was virtually all plain sailing for Mid Canterbury from that point, with Umaga scoring his third, followed by 36-year-old winger Jason Feutz scoring one of his own try after a set move from a scrum.
The frantic pace Mid Canterbury played the game at took a toll on North Otago, although it did managed to score a couple of late tries, to Pale Tuilagi and coach Mike Mullins, who was forced to pull on the boots himself due to a number of players being out injured.
Mid Canterbury 38 (Jack Umaga 3, Jason Feutz, Brenton Connell tries; Kieran Lindsay pen, 5 con) North Otago 24 (Mike Mavor, Jone Paumau, Pale Tuilagi, Mike Mullins tries; Pale Tuilagi con, Jone Paumau con). Halftime: 17-7.
