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A thrilling finish to the round robin saw Bombay Gough Cat and Karaka home semifinals where they will play Ardmore Marist South Auckland Motors and Patumahoe Hotel respectively.

The tight finish caps a terrific regular season in Counties Manukau club rugby this season.

Pukekohe Mitre 10 Mega did their part in trying to sneak a playoff spot – winning seven straight matches including a narrow 36-33 victory over Onewhero Counties Bulk Haulage at Colin Lawrie Fields on Saturday but other results didn’t go their way and they finish agonizingly close to making the semifinals.

Little separated the two form teams of the second round in the five tries apiece result.

Pukekohe needed to win the game and depending on the outcome of the Ardmore Marist v Patumahoe clash they could also need to collect a four-try bonus point to get in.

Assistant coach Mark Price said they had a score update from the other game at halftime.

“We found out that Ardmore were up 7-3 at halftime so that changed our thinking and we knew we would need to get the five points,” Price explained.

“After the game, within a few minutes, we were getting the updates.

“It was probably the worst I’ve ever felt after a win.”

“From where we were for the boys to bounce back and go seven in a row to give ourselves a chance is pretty pleasing though.”

Both Pukekohe and Onewhero have played extremely well late in the season and it seems almost unfair that neither club will be playing semifinal rugby next week.

“It probably was an entertaining game for the spectators,” Price said. “Every time we seemed to get on top of them they would score and get back on top of us.

“We were chancing our arm a little bit knowing we probably needed five points.”

Pukekohe lock Cameron Skelton was named the AS Wilcox and Sons Ltd Player of the Day.

Ardmore Marist ruined Pukekohe’s chances by knocking over Patumahoe 18-13 at Bruce Pulman Park to book their semifinal spot.

Last year’s losing finalists have struggled for their best form towards the end of the competition but came up with the clutch result when it counted.

Patumahoe have lost two straight games to fall back to third and miss a home semifinal. They will travel to the Karaka Sports Ground next week for their semifinal.

Karaka had little trouble in beating Papakura 65-14 to grab the five points they need to jump Patumahoe.

“The biggest thing is we didn’t have any injuries to come out of it that will affect next week,” coach Craig Hill said. “We did lose Jamie Gilbert-Clark the previous week.

“The first 20 odd minutes wasn’t overly accurate from us and Papakura did take their chances and it was 15-14 at one point but we sorted ourselves out after that.”

Bombay racked up 11 tries in beating Te Kauwhata 75-0 to book top spot and get back to winning ways after their last round loss to Pukekohe.

While the score looks one-sided Bombay coach Jeff Marr was pleased with the test his side was given in really soggy conditions.

“We got a lot out of the game,” he said. “We played on our top field because the number one had been water damaged during the week. To be fair the top field was like a pigsty so to put 75 points on in ankle deep mud is great.

“We got a lot out of it because we were able to play wide but also showed an ability to play up through the middle.”

Bombay were happy to finish top in what Marr describes as “their most consistent season” but also acknowledges that everything starts again in the semifinals.

Manurewa Kidd Contracting finished their season on a high with a 24-20 win over Waiuku Brian James Contracting in the only final round fixture that didn’t have playoff implications.

The win means Manurewa finishes the year in seventh place and Waiuku eighth.

Patumahoe Hutton Builders got the 31-12 win over Ardmore Marist Ross Roof Group in Premier 2 but in a reversal of Premier 1 Pukekohe denied them a playoff spot with their win over Onewhero. Karaka, Manurewa and Bombay all enjoyed wins and secured playoff spots.

Weymouth and Maramarua had wins in Premier 3 to set up a show down between the two clubs in the final next week.

Patumahoe Albycon Ltd had better fortune in Under 21 action as they beat Pukekohe 25-6 to book top spot ahead of next week’s semifinals. Pukekohe also makes it through along with Karaka and Ardmore Marist Ross Roof Group, who all had final round wins.

In Under 85kg action Patumahoe Pak N Save also went through as top qualifiers as they look to defend their trophy. They are joined in the semifinals by Ardmore Marist, Karaka and Drury.

McNamara Cup (Premier 1) 

Bombay Gough Cat 75

(George Taina, Jordan Goldsmith 2, Kalolo Tuiloma, Coree TeWhata-Colley, David O’Connell, Patrick Masoe 2, Joshua Stol 3 tries; Ki Anufe 7, Sepuloni Taufa, George Taina, Jordan Goldsmith cons)

Te Kauwhata EnviroWaste 0

HT: 42-0

Pukekohe Mitre 10 Mega (Counties Power Cup Winners 2017) 36

(Joe Reynolds, Salimoni Tukania, Iomano Tameilau, Cameron Skelton, Petelo Sili tries; Joe Reynolds 4 cons; Joe Reynolds pens)

Onewhero Counties Bulk Haulage 33

(Romero Tagi, Filipe Pau, Jackson Orr, Alifeleti Fahiua 2 tries; Luke Makris 4 cons)

HT: 12-7

Papakura Ray White 14

(Faalae Peni 2 tries;  Faalae Peni 2 cons)

Karaka 65

(Avae Momoisea, Harry Luteru, Desma Liaina, Antonio Kata, Walter Fifita, John Fifita, Sunia Vosikata 2, Ralulu Bavou 2 tries; Scott Allison 6 cons; Scott Allison pens)

HT: 14-34

Ardmore Marist South Auckland Motors 18

(Whaiora Rangiwai, Luteru Laulala tries; Kirisome Laulala cons;  Kirisome Laulala 2 pens)

Patumahoe Hotel 13

(Mason Hohepa tries; Jonny Wilkinson  cons; Jonny Wilkinson 2 pens)

HT: 0-3

Manurewa Kidd Contracting 24

(Viliami Taulani 2, Penitoa Finau 2tries;  Bradford Lemalufaito 2 cons; Bradford Lemalufaito 2 pens)

Waiuku Brian James Contracting 20

(Christian Walker, Wiliame Umu, Dominic Olson tries; Christian Walker cons; Christian Walker pens)

HT: 14-13

Bob Chandler Memorial (Premier 2) 

Te Kauwhata defaulted to Bombay Pokeno Bacon; Pukekohe 58 Onewhero 0; Papakura 10 Karaka 58; Ardmore Marist Ross Roof Group 12 Patumahoe Hutton Builders 31; Manurewa 98 Waiuku 0

Sid Marshall Shield (Premier 3) – Semi Final

Te Kohanga 5 Maramarua 8; Weymouth 53 Puni 14

Massey Cup (U21) 

Ardmore Marist Ross Roof Group 104 Papakura 0; Patumahoe Albycon Ltd 25 Pukekohe 6; Manurewa 6 Karaka 53

Under 85kg: 

Onewhero defaulted to Ardmore Marist; Drury 32 Waiuku 21; Karaka 5 Patumahoe Pak N Save 25

First Grade Manurewa 10 Papatoetoe 19

Rainbows End Counties Manukau and Waikato 1^st XV (Premier) – 8 July 2017 Results

Pukekohe HS 0 St Johns College 53

James Cook HS 27 Alfriston College 5

Manurewa HS 24 Cambridge HS 16

Rainbows End Counties Manukau and Waikato 1^st XV (Premier) – 15 July 2017 Draw

Rosehill College v Te Awamutu College, 2:35pmat Rosehill College

CNI 

Wesley College 38 FDMC 19