North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Finals time in Fox Memorial Shield
One week to go until the Fox Memorial final and this week we see Mt Albert up against Pt Chev in a repeat of the grand final of the last two years to see who will join Papakura in the grand final.
Last week we saw Papakura get back into form with a hard fought win over last year’s champions Pt Chev, taking out the game 26-14. While Pt Chev had the edge in experience with players such as Dylan Moses, Jonothan Carl and the Solomona’s in their side it was the teamwork of Papakura that saw them move through to next week’s grand final.
Meanwhile Mt Albert showed perhaps their best form of the year in easily accounting for Glenora, 54-6, a side that tipped over Papakura in round 18. It was a rather strange decision for Glenora to bring back veterans Gavin Bailey and Cliff Beverley in recent weeks, a move that paid no dividends against the Lions.
I’m expecting a bit of a grudge match on the weekend as there is no love lost between the Lions and the Pirates. And a more even match up would be difficult to find. They’ve met twice this year with the first encounter back in round one ending in a 14 all draw and the second in round ten seeing the Lions getting the points with a narrow 26-22 victory.
So clearly there’s not too much between these two sides so a classic encounter is promised at Mt Smart on Saturday that could go well beyond the 80 minutes.
The Sharman Cup is still going. Bay Roskill and Te Atatu survived knock out matches last week and join Waitemata and Ellerslie in the play-off to see who goes into next week’s grand final. Waitemata and Bay Roskill meet at Mt Smart at 11.00a.m. while Ellerslie get the advantage of playing at home on Saturday afternoon against the minor champs Te Atatu.
On Sunday the Warriors return to Mt Smart where they get to play their last two matches of the season. They’ll be up against the Tigers this week before they host the Eels a week later. After the last two performances from the Warriors, against Souths and the Cowboys, it’s hard to see how they can be three to one favourites to beat the Tigers. But that’s what they’ll need to do so here’s hoping the right team turn up on Sunday. Coach Andrew McFadden’s job could be on the line pending the results over the next two weeks.