Rugby: Stratford-Eltham and Coastal make it through

Photo by Spinna Photography

Two tries by Coastal midfielder Ben Dufficy have helped his side beat top seeds New Plymouth Old Boys in one of the semifinals in Taranaki premier club rugby on Saturday.

Dufficy scored the pair in the second half of the 25-12 win at Vogeltown Park to line up a mouthwatering final against defending champions Stratford-Eltham at Stadium Taranaki on Saturday.

Stratford-Eltham beat Tukapa 35-25 in wet conditions at Victoria Park to make it through to their third consecutive final.  

It will be Coastal’s first final since 2021 when they were beaten by Inglewood and their 10^th since 1998 only to win the championship in 2009 and 2012.

Coastal’s ability to capitalise on Old Boys’ mistakes during the semifinal was the difference in the match.

While Old Boys had welcomed back many of its top players over the last few weeks, their lineout failed to fire.

There was also no dominance from either team in the scrums, which there were many of because of the muddy conditions. However, that set up a solid platform for both teams to launch from as Coastal was the more accurate team.  

Coastal halfback Logan Crowley, who had spent the last two seasons playing for the Utah Warriors, was a standout player for the visiting team.

He made many snipes around the edge of the rucks to get Coastal on the front foot.

It was Old Boys’ Zak McDonald who scored the opening try of the match to continue his lead as the competition’s top try scorer.

With the scores locked up at 5-all at the break, with a David Stark try in the corner, Dufficy, who played in Taranaki’s successful Ranfurly Shield defence against King Country last month, made many breaks through the Old Boys line.

His tries were scored in the second half as Coastal took control of the match, only for Old Boys captain Rowan Slater to score late.

It was more free-flowing in Stratford, despite the wet weather that lingered for the entire match.

After conceding an early penalty try, Tukapa stretched the score out to 20-7 just before halftime until Stratford-Eltham wing Vereniki Tikoisolomone dotted down to narrow the margin.

Tukapa took their opportunities, and their kick-chase game was excellent as they put pressure on the Stratford-Eltham back three.

That pressure led to one of Mason Henry’s two tries for Tukapa after he dived on a loose ball in the in goal following a kick and chase.    

It was tit for tat in the second half as both teams scored an early try each.

Halfway through the second spell, Stratford-Eltham played to the conditions and turned the momentum with their patience and forward play rewarded.  

A try in the forwards extended the lead to 10 points to make it hard for Tukapa to come back despite having most of the ball for the remainder of the match.

Other semifinal results:

Women’s:
Inglewood 46 v Okaiawa 5
Tukapa 17 v Southern 15

Division 1:
Southern 49 v Clifton 5
Old Boys 38 v Stratford-Eltham 20

Colts:
Coastal 50 v Stratford-Eltham 10
Tukapa 12 v Inglewood 10

Division 2:
Bell Block 83 v Southern 0
Patea 40 v Clifton 7

Division 3:
Kaponga 20 v Tukapa 20 (Kaponga won)
Toko 5 v Okaiawa 3