Oxford v Saracens in final showdown
Oxford and Saracens will clash for the top honours in North Canterbury senior rugby at Mandeville on Saturday.
The two sides will clash for the Alf Hunnibell Memorial Trophy after taking out their respective semi-finals at the weekend.
In Hawarden, Saracens held on for a 24-18 win over GlenmarkCheviot to knock out the defending champions.
A try to Hadrian Jackson was converted by Ricky Allin, who also kicked three penalties to have Saracens up 16-6 at halftime, with Brook Retallick kicking two penalties for the hosts.
Glenmark clawed back to within one point with a further three penalties to Retallick, but just couldn’t crack the Saracens defence.
Allin kicked a penalty to give Saracens some breathing space before a try to Ollie Bithray put Saracens out to 24-15 inside the final 10 minutes.
A sixth Retallick penalty drew Glenmark-Cheviot back within a converted try with five minutes to go, but they still couldn’t break the Saracens defence.
Saracens now eye up adding to their lone 2015 North Canterbury title.
In the other semi-final, top qualifiers Oxford beat Ohoka for a second straight week but had to work harder for the win.
The hosts held a slender 11-5 lead at halftime before pulling away in the second half to advance to their first final since 2013.
Oxford had tries to Saia Tuionetoa, Ulai Lawavou, Pita Sekilagi and James Haigh, with Sean Thompson landing two conversions and two penalties.
It was a strong effort from Ohoka in their first ever division one semi-final, with tries to Brett Fowler and George Wiggins.
Kaiapoi finished the season with a 29-26 win over Hurunui in the plate final.
Hurunui led 14-12 at the turn but Kaiapoi came home stronger.
The home side had tries to Jacob Hurring, Dene Steere, Dante Love and Lance Taylor. Taylor also added two conversions and a penalty.
Hurunui had a double from Willy Jamison along with tries to Jimmy Downs and Luke Shanks, with three conversions from Andrew Murdoch.
While Kaiapoi ended the season on a winning note, it was a sixth straight loss within seven points for Hurunui since stepping up to division one.