11 July Results and Match Reports

Northcote 22 East Coast Bays 15
Massey 28 North Shore 22
Western 27 Glenfield 7
Silverdale 28 Takapuna 20
Western Pioneers were the big winners out of the final regular season weekend in North Harbour premier club play.

The hybrid team, formed several seasons ago out of Helensville and Kumeu, leapfrogged East Coast Bays into the fourth semifinal berth after defeating third placed Glenfield 27-7.

Western were swiftly into their work and scored tries to the prolific Ritchie Ah Chong and Pita Volavola, while North Harbour rep lock Michael Farmer also crossed the whitewash.
That leads to a mouth-watering west Auckland derby this Saturday at Moire Park with top qualifiers Massey, who sealed top billing by repelling second placed North Shore 28-22.

Massey boasted the inclusion of six returning Super Rugby players, which gave their backline a start-studded look, while the North Shore pack boasted an equally impressive array of names, making for a true forwards vs backs battle.

Northcote have also had a further injection of players coming back from Super Rugby duties and injury and have made a late run to give the end of their season some respectability. They came up against an East Coast Bays side that was desperate for the win, which would have seen them a chance to secure a semis berth. But Northcote just proved to be too strong and held them out 22-15, despite three tries apiece, to kill off their hopes. Prop Nic Mayhew Blake Hall were among the tryscorers. Bays miss the semifinals by two competition points.Centre Pita Ahki, signed to the Hurricanes for 2016, crossed for a try, along with Matt Vaega and Gerard Tuioti-Mariner. North Shore also scored three tries, and secured a bonus point, but they will now refocus for their home semifinal at Vauxhall Road against Walter Little's Glenfield.

Silverdale provided the surprise result of the round, beating Takapuna 28-20 for just their second win of the season. Raniera Takarangi scored a double, while David McMurtrie picked up 13 points with the boot.

This weekend's plate semis will see East Coast Bays play Silverdale and Takapuna take on Northcote.