The team travelled to Cooks Gardens in Whanganui on Saturday and snagged the semifinal match.
This win, coupled with the surprise 17-16 victoryby Mid Canterbury over South Canterbury, gives the Swamp Foxes a home final against Mid Canterbury at Te Aroha this coming Saturday.
The South Canterbury loss ended their amazing 39-game unbeaten run while a clearly focused Swamp Foxes side were determined to take the knockout semifinal and reverse the earlier 16-14 loss to Whanganui.
The scoreboard told the story with the Foxes never behind, building on a 25-8 halftime lead to finish with a comfortable 23-point margin in the end.
Thames Valley had the significant breeze at their backs and looked to chalk up a defendable first-half lead.
At the after-match conference, Swamp Foxes captain Matty Axtens said: “We wanted to start well in the first 20 minutes with great physicality and put them under the pump.”
Laulea Mau carts the ball forwards.
They delivered with two tries and a penalty for an early 15-0 lead.
Whanganui then closed the gap to 15-8 midway through the first half.
Veteran Connor McVerry started the highlight of the game with a huge break through the Whanganui defence. Quick passing saw the Valley record a treasured seven-pointer.
A penalty had the visitors leading 25-8 at the break.
The opening 20 minutes of the second half proved to be a stalemate with no scoring.
This was to the Swamp Foxes’ advantage and another converted try stretched their lead to 32-8. There was then no way out of the game for Whanganui.
