RUGBY - Top four through to semis, model Magpies miss out

It's official - wins on Saturday put Mid Northern, Wellsford, Hora Hora and Marist into the semifinal of the Joe Morgan Memorial club rugby championship and the season is over for five of the other six teams.
Mid Northern beat Mid Western 31-13, Wellsford won 28-7 against the Western Sharks, Hora Hora beat Whangarei Old Boys 46-0, and Marist won 45-0 against Waipu.
Mid Northern have a home game against Marist next weekend and Wellsford will play Hora Hora at Wellsford.
And the only team among the six also-rans with football still to play is bottom-placed Old Boys, which next weekend has a promotion relegation game at home against Southern.
Southern gained second division supremacy with a 25-17 win over Otamatea on Saturday.
With no upsets among the top-placed four on the Joe Morgan ladder, a 29-11 bonus point victory for fifth-placed Kamo over Hikurangi on Saturday failed to get the Magpies into the semis - a sad outcome for Kamo, who made an impressive comeback from an 11-0 deficit at halftime.
The game was filmed by a television crew and will be included in the Toyota Grassroots Rugby programme on Sky Sport 1 at 7pm on Wednesday and on Prime at 2pm on Sunday.
Hikurangi coach Johnny Sanson was dejected after the game, which the traditional rivals played for the inaugural Bob Tait Memorial Trophy, with Tait Real Estate providing a $100 bar tab for the winners.
"I'm proud of the way the team we had on the field played, but with seven guys out for Northland that was bound to have an impact in the end," he said.
Hikurangi points came from a try by second-five James Thompson, a penalty by flanker Josh Edmonds and a drop goal kicked by first-five Troy Raitt.
Determined forward play in the second half brought tries for Kamo's captain-prop Jason Hammond, No8 Nick James, halfback Theius Van Loggerenberg, centre Hunia Kingi and flanker Terry Lorrie. Fullback Tony Monaghan kicked two conversions.
Details of other games were sketchy, with Northland Rugby Union officials distracted by the province's pre-season game against Manawatu at Taipa and some coaches difficult to contact.
Mid Northern coach Craig Edwards described the Mid Western field at Maungakaramea as "awesome", its "hard and fast" surface enabling his team to run the ball. Mid Western coach Steve Carter laughed at that, saying his team thought their field was wet and slippery.
"We played well in stages, but they looked the goods and played like they wanted that bonus point," he said.
Mid Western points came from tries by wingers Brian George and Tim Petit and a penalty kicked by halfback Reon Wynyard.
Wellsford's 28 points scored against Western Sharks at Dargaville came from tries by S Oldfield, E Endolo, R Haynes and A Dowis, with J MoiMoi and M Wright converting two each.
Sharks coach Roger Rowse was disappointed a try was disallowed when winger Tane Takulua touched down in the corner.
The Sharks' points came from a try by halfback Ryan Boyd, converted by No8 Mark Russell.
Marist coach Adriaan Ferris scored two tries when he had a run in the midfield after three of his team were involved in a road accident and couldn't make the game against Waipu in Whangarei. Marist centre Isaia Nawaqa also scored a couple, while No8 Peter Leilua, second five Sione Tuitavake and wing Kameli Delana each dotted down, and fullback Luke Muggeridge kicked five conversions.
Hora Hora's 46 points against Old Boys came from tries by Jason Parangi, Sam Posthumus, Rocky Waata, Doug Te Puni and his son Joseph, Robby Murray and Leon Baigent (2), who also kicked three conversions.