The 1st XV played Francis Douglas Memorial College on the weekend in a game to decide the top placing for the Central North Island competition, this was very important for home field advantage heading into the finals.
St Paul’s started extremely well, with Kip Fawcett breaking the line, to set up Asipeli to score under the post. Soon after, St Paul’s were on attack again, this time the forwards attacking the line, and Alex Mitchell crashed over for another try. Before the 10 minute mark, Tyrell Martin extended the lead to 15 with a penalty following a yellow card to a Francis Douglas player for a professional foul close to the line, it all seemed a bit easy for a game that was expected to be tight. The yellow card seemed to spur FDMC into gear, and they defended well to stop St Paul’s from scoring again in the half, and even added a penalty to take the score to 15-3 at half time.
The 2nd half was a much tighter with both teams exchanging penalties. FDMC were their own worst enemy in game with most of the possession and often getting close to the line, only for the last pass to go to ground or over the touch. St Paul’s were put under a lot of pressure, but their defense was solid, and they held on for a well-deserved win – the final score 24-13.
St Paul’s will play the semifinal at home on Saturday.
