Red letter day for Mid Northern

Mid Northern claimed a rare Southern Districts double, holding off a second-half comeback by the Western Sharks to win the grand final 17-12, on Saturday.
The win in front of a vocal crowd of several hundred at Toll Stadium was preceded by Mid Northern winning the PGG Wrightson Premier Reserve final 14-3 over Kamo - the first time the Hukerenui-based country club has achieved wins in both competitions in the same season.
The victorious premier coach Craig Edwards said the title capped off a memorable season at the club and said his role had been made easier this season with experienced players like Jason Hammond and David Holwell in the squad.
"It's been an awesome season, the old fellas and the young fellas have all stepped up, I'm ecstatic really, you couldn't ask for a better club to coach at and a better bunch of guys, they've been outstanding," he said.
Mid Northern were too tough for the Sharks to contain in the first spell and led 17-3 at half-time. Toward the end of the first quarter veteran Brad Miller broke the deadlock. He stepped off both feet, dazzling the defenders, taking the ball from outside the 22m before he was caught just inches away from the try-line, leaving Brock Mustard to grab the presented ball and dive over the line.
Sharks flyhalf Reece Hamon kicked a penalty before Josh Barry replied with a penalty of his own to add to his earlier conversion.
Running like an outside back, lock Busta Douglas then sliced through the Sharks' inside back defence, passing to AJ Abel, who found prop Dillon Horne, who scored the second try in the 33rd minute. Barry added the extras to put Mid Northern ahead 17-3 at the break.
The Sharks showed why they were in the final by taking the game back to Mid-Northern in the second spell, stringing the phases together to keep the Hukerenui side pinned in their own half. But although they broke the line with their dangerous outside backs, the Mid Northern players showed some great defensive commitment.
Despite losing Hammond to an ankle injury and Kaaran Going, who was sinbinned midway through the spell, the Mid Northern defence held, limiting the Sharks' scoring to three Hamon penalties.
Douglas said the physically draining defensive effort won them the match.
"We tried not to go away from our game plan but we had to dig deep, especially in the second half when they pushed us hard and we had to defend as a team - it was a big team effort for us today," he said.
Sharks coach Myles Ferris called the season's effort at the club "outstanding" and said the team had achieved its goal of reaching the final and would be back next year stronger than ever.
"It's been a big learning curve for the boys, we didn't get the cream today but I'm pretty sure we'll be back again next year.
"There's been a lot of heart in this team all year but unfortunately as I told the boys before the game, heart doesn't win finals, you've got to play smart and defend a lot better than we did in the first half - we gave them two tries and ended up chasing the game," he said.
Skipper Garry Whippy, and loose forwards Latu Moala and Solomon Palu were outstanding throughout the game and they were understandably devastated after the game.
But delighted Mid Northern coach Edwards said he would have to contemplate his role at the club next year but he was tempted to go out on a winning note.
"There's a lot more to life than just rugby but rugby will always be a part of my life," Edwards said.
It was his first title in four years coaching the club's senior team, after reaching the semifinals last year and the final in 2008.