After opposing first five-eighths Chad Whale and Tyrone Albert traded penalties, the visitors struck the first decisive blow following a penalty lineout near halftime.
While Taihape managed to stop Border spreading the ball into the far-side corner, the forwards carried back towards the posts and on the second spread attempt, fullback Harry Symes beat his marker to flash over to score.
Border No 8 Jay Tora had led a strong midfield defence, supported by flanker Jeff Dorset and franchise centre Alekesio Vakarorogo, which saw a flat Taihape trying to use more width, unsuccessfully.
Come the second half and with a lift from their bench, specifically front-rowers Gabriel Hakaraia and Tru Ratana-Horton, along with forwards Isaiah Mātana and Kaleb Sweet, Taihape’s ball control tightened up and they carried with more purpose – Border using the wind to launch some long-range clearances and hold back the tide.
Centre Tiari Mumby lost possession ripping back inside the attacking 22m, giving Taihape a close-range chance from a ruck penalty and, after the quick tap, Sweet drove his way across near the posts for the equaliser with 15 minutes left.
But Taihape then made several turnovers in the attacking half, allowing Border to clear the ball, before a dangerous tackle by Ratana-Horton brought a yellow card.
From the attacking lineout, both packs piled into the ruck, but no one other than McDonald saw the gaping hole left on the blindside, as he dashed off to score the priceless matchwinner.
“It was a bit of a funny old game; to be fair, it didn’t feel like there was a lot of intensity in both sides, to be honest,” Border co-coach Cole Baldwin said.
“In that first half, we were just trying to feel each other out. In the second half, there was a little bit more intensity from Taihape and we didn’t really go with it.
“We’ve got to stop giving away those silly penalties and what seems to be happening is they’re multiplying – one after the other - and it’s putting us in a world of trouble.
“If we get it wrong, there’s no more chances after next week.”
Taihape coach Sefo Bourke was left to ponder why his team had not fired at a critical juncture of the season, something unlikely to happen in the semifinals.
“I’ll have to look at the tape again but how we played in the first half was a credit to Border and how they played.
“I thought we were quite slow at ruck time, we weren’t as physical as we should have been, and they were really, really good over the ball and good at disrupting.
“In the second half, we were strong there at ruck time – we strung some phases together – but they came to play and credit to them.”
