Panthers beat Dragons to finals

The Tupapa Panthers have secured the first grand finals position after fighting off the Ngatangiia Dragons 27-21 at the weekend at Nukupure Park.

At the BCI Stadium the Avatiu Eels scraped in with a one point 12-11 win to secure one last chance to make it to the grand finals and effectively end the Cowboys campaign.

Battles between the Eels and Cowboys have always been heated and Saturday’s encounter was no different as neither side wanted to be the loser.

Standout for the Eels win was young winger Sirla Pera who carved up the Cowboys defence which struggled to ground the slippery runner while Mark Charlie wreaked havoc with his booming run.

For the Cowboys young Basil Matapo was a standout.

In the end the Eels two tries against the Cowboys one was enough for them to progress through to next weekend’s semi finals of the 2012 CITC senior A grade season against this year’s big improvers the Dragons.

At Nukupure Park on Saturday and for a change – defending 2011 champions the Panthers became the ‘hunted’ and they were able to outlast the fast-finishing Dragons in this match

It was also a case of third time lucky for the Panthers after losing twice this season to the Dragons but when it mattered the Panthers finally got their win.

Their winning formula was all about hitting the ground running.

At one stage during the first half the Panthers led by 15-3, which seemed to surprise the normally composed Dragons team as they made some elementary handling lapses. But to their credit the Dragons recovered and went about their work slowly clawing their way back into this match with second five-eight Thomas Toa crashing over for a try and his brother first five-eight Daniel Toa kicking some goals, to hold the Panthers to a slim 15-13 lead at the half time break.

Early in the second half the Dragons took the lead with a try by utility back Jay Maui – after constant Dragons pressure, Maui latched on to a wayward Panthers pass and cross the try line.

However, the Panthers quickly replied with two tries in succession by their loose forwards number 8 Kore Herrmann and big Aitutakian blindside flanker Mau George to take the lead back 27-18.

Dragons first five-eight Daniel Toa then kicked a 40m penalty to close the gap to 21-27 with 15 minutes on the clock.

And while the Dragons were camped in the Panthers 22m for the last 15 minutes of the game, the Panthers’ desperate defence held out.

This week’s semi final draw will be confirmed on Tuesday with all games to be played at the BCI Stadium.

Full results: (at Ngatangiia field) – U13-Eels 56 vs Cowboys 29, U16-Bulls 25 vs Cowboys 11, U19-Cowboys vs 19 Panthers 22, Snr B-Eels 19 vs Dragons 5, Senior A: Panthers 27 vs Dragons 21, (at BCI Stadium) – U13-Dragons 15 vs Panthers 7, U16-Panthers 34 vs Reds 0, Senior A-Eels 12 vs Cowboys 11.