As predicted, conditions were torrential for the first final of the day. The under 21 Boys final put up a closely fought encounter between two talented sides.
Counties had all the early running and looked to be adapting to the difficult conditions faster. They went close on both flanks before Joseph Herewini scored right through the middle going straight through a hole he had no right to go through.
Canterbury replied from the restarting set as Tony Christie slipped underneath the clutches of the Counties defence.
Turnovers and forward passes due to the gusty conditions contributed to several understandable errors. Counties ball handling was sound in their next score though as Sam Cook scored from an intricate play up the middle, diving onto an inside ball. Scoring down low seemed to be easier than passing wide at this stage in the game.
Canterbury levelled the score again through Christie who this time paced between two defenders who appeard confused as to who they were actually marking. The halftime score was 2-2.
Following the halftime break, both teams found the going tough with few opportunities to approach the five metre line. After an inactive period of attack, Brad Moka scored following a stepback move which easily drew all of the Canterbury savers far too quickly.
Counties were displaying some lock down defence in this period and were rewarded for this when they went two touchdowns ahead. Moka scored again on the wing following an almost identical move as their last. Aaron Biddle did the damage in the middle of the park.
Canterbury were determined to remain in the game as the weather deteriorated and Ben Ziolo managed to get the ball down following a play through call which confused the Counties defenders. However Counties looked to have the x-factor in this contest and this was exemplified by Nat Turner who dived over his marker to make the score 5-3.
With time at a premium, Canterbury would need to dig deep to even force a drop-off. Nicholas Rapana stepped up for Canterbury by first laying on a touchdown for Sean Murray and then gliding past three defenders in an impressive individual effort which levelled the scores at 5-5. The match looked to be heading for extras but with barely any time remaining, Counties broke the Canterbury resistance and scored from the next set. Moka grabbed his third on the wing close to hooter time. There was no time for another Canterbury comeback as Counties ran out 6-5 winners and Under 21 Champions of 2012.
Last Modified on 03/03/2012 10:16
