Te Kawau win title with dramatic late try

Te Kawau snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to claim the Val Holland Memorial Trophy from Feilding 17-15.

With the scoreboard clock showing 83 minutes, Te Kawau were still behind 15-10.

They had been camped inside Yellows’ 22 since the 78th minute, but were struggling to find holes in the defence despite been awarded a string of penalties.

But hooker Cam Barr eventually crashed his way over the line for a try to level the scores.

Wing Kenny Hill, who had missed both his previous shots at goal, slotted the conversion 15m in from touch to win the match.

The win offers some consolation to Te Kawau after falling one point shy of the Hankins Shield knockout stages.

But Te Kawau were not at their best for the match. Their scrum was under heavy pressure and they had trouble with the speed of Feilding’s defensive line.

That, combined with strange decision-making and poor handling, had them on the back foot for most of the match.

Yellows were much more controlled in the way they protected the ball.

They scored the only try in the first half when Heiden Bedwellcurtis broke off a scrum to the blindside and fed Brad Carr for the try.

Te Kawau always looked more dangerous with Tom Parsons, Harrison Brewer and Kenny Hill all making big breaks, but they were unable to finish them. Te Kawau halfback Toby Morland and Barr were the standouts.

Yellows first five-eighth Ben Wyness looked like he was going to extend Feilding’s lead, but he slipped en route to the try line, leaving the score at 7-0 at the break.

Two minutes into the second half Yellows got a try after Carr got a hand to the ball in-goal following a kick which was missed by Te Kawau fullback Shaun Lawtonsue. But six minutes later lock Taylor Lowe scored, then flanker Hamish Manthel crossed in a rolling maul.

Wyness kicked a penalty with

12 minutes left to give Feilding a 15-10 lead.

With six minutes to go, Te Kawau turned down a penalty which would have closed the scores to within two.

But that set up the final frantic 10 minutes before Feilding cracked, handing the win to Te Kawau.

Te Kawau coach Alistair Mitchell admitted it was not his side’s best performance.

‘‘We were asleep most of the game,’’ he said. ‘‘Every time we decided to wake up we would make the yards and then we would go back to sleep again, we just weren’t finishing.’’

But he put the effort down to an off-day and the disappointment of missing the top four.

‘‘It is pretty hard to get up when you miss out on the top four,’’ he said.

But now they have secured the Val Holland Memorial Trophy and after coming so close to the top four, he hoped his team had the belief in themselves that they need going forward.

‘‘We now have the belief that we can actually win. We were lacking that when we first played those top four teams.’’

Feilding captain Matt Dalley hoped his side would learn from the match.

‘‘A lot has happened this season and we have come a long way. If we can take the lessons from this season and build into next year we will be much better for it.’’

Meanwhile, in the senior two semifinals Old Boys-marist beat Dannevirke 29-26 with a last minute try and the Massey Rams upset Pirates 20-10.