Buller opted not to kick for goal preferring to head for touch and try for lineout wins. Wanganui's tall timber Gavin Thornbury and Campbell Hart, however, had other ideas.
Fifteen minutes into the match centre Blake Hohaia dotted down after a rare run of play by Wanganui with ball in hand. Craig Clare, back from injury and starting first-five, kicked the subsequent conversion to give the visitors an 8-nil lead.
Two minutes later No8 Malakai Volau crossed the line in the corner after a Wanganui backline combination of moves to extend the score out to 14-0.
Buller continued to put things together and attempt different plays, but to no avail. Either the Wanganui defence or Buller's ball handling skills denied a way forward for the home side.
Wanganui was dealt a blow 27 minutes into the first half when local Thornbury was sinbinned for hands in the ruck, a penalty that disappointed Caskey.
"It something we'd talked about during the week, so to get pinged for it was disappointing," Caskey said yesterday.
Thornbury returned to the field just minutes before the half time break.
The second half was almost a repeat of the first with Buller dominating possession and Wanganui shutting them down.
Wanganui halfback Lindsay Horrocks mare a real nuisance of himself around the paddock as usual, while Te Rangatira Waitokia looked extremely dangerous on the run with ball in hand. Clare made good calls at the times he did get the ball, while the entire Wanganui team worked magic on defence.
Buller looked to have a real live chance of scoring on several occasions when Lash made breaks, but again handling errors denied the desired finishing results.
On one particular occasion Buller prop Phil Beveridge's eyes lit up wen he found clear air wide out and made a 30-metre dash for glory. However, a dropped ball at a crucial stage ended the move.
Caskey made changes 25 minutes into the second spell with Hamish Mellow, James Hughes and Sam Madams coming on to replace their hard working forward counterparts.
Hughes was rewarded soon after with the side's third try that was converted by Clare to take the score to 22-0.
And in a bizarre incident with just minutes to go, the Buller forwards simply didn't bother to contest a lineout right on their try line. The Wanganui throw went straight to Thornbury who only had to bend over to dot down to score the fourth try for the bonus point.
Caskey said the penalty count aside, he was more than happy to retain the unbeaten record and secure a home semi-final.
"At Tuesday and Thursday training we practiced our defensive drills and making sure our line speed was up to scratch. Many of those offside penalties were line calls by the ref and touch judges. But in the end the boys got the job done and that's what matters. We didn't even need the bonus point," Caskey said yesterday.
Wanganui 28 (Blake Hohaia, Malakai Volau, Jamie Hughes, Gavin Thornbury tries; Craig Clare 2 con). Buller 0
