Wright man on hand in Wellsford's final push

A try to Wellsford fullback Matt Wright and 100 plus minutes of rugby was all it took to separate Mid Northern and Wellsford on Saturday.
Wright's try in the fourth minute of the second period of extra time was the decisive moment in an epic Southern Districts premier grade semifinal.
Halfback Ross Neal ran toward the blindside inside the Mid Northern 22m, causing the defence to hesitate, before slipping Wright a short pass and the fullback showed strength to shrug off a tackle and beat the cover to score.  That made it 18-13 - a lead that Wellsford defended until the final whistle.
"I've never scored such a big try - it's the first time Wellsford have been in the final, so it was definitely a moment for me to remember," Wright said.
Wellsford deserved their victory celebrations. They made  fewer mistakes and their pack, spearheaded by outstanding loose forward trio of John Cocker, Stu Oldfield and Symon Atkins, gave them the edge. The front row  was also outstanding, with lock-cum-hooker Ross Wright pulling off some devastating tackles. Both backlines largely cancelled each other out,  although Mid Northern had the edge in the kicking game.
Mid Northern went behind early after Neal charged down a David Howell clearance, from behind his goaline, and Ateri Davis caught the ball to flop over the line in the second minute of the game.
It was the start the underdogs wanted against the title favourites but Mid Northern were soon on the board with a Howell penalty. Moimoi kicked two penalties to lead 13-6 at the break as they continued to shade the locals in execution as well as possession and territory.
The second half was a different story. Mid Northern were quickly on top and spent around two-thirds of the spell camped inside or around the Wellsford 22m line. They were able to recycle the ball better - particularly when Wellsford captain Scott Brady was sinbinned - and put several phases together a number of times but were unable to breakdown the visitors' goal-line defence until time was almost up on the clock.
Typically, it was Howell who finally broke through, crashing over to score next to the posts and his conversion levelled the scores.
If the local supporters expected the home side to dominate extra time, like they had the second half, they were disappointed. Wellsford showed they wanted the win more and it looked as though the effort of drawing level had taken its toll on the locals.
In extra time it was all Wellsford. They missed a penalty and two dropped goal attempts in the first spell of extra time before  Wright scored to break the deadlock early in the second.
Mid Northern dredged up the energy for a final assault in Wellsford territory but their ball security once again let them down.
 Wellsford captain  Brady, was understandably thrilled at  his team's performance.
"This is the fourth year we've been in the final and we've lost all of them so it was a big effort today but I think we wanted it more than them, they weren't quite as hungry as us," he said.
A well-organised and committed defence got them into the final Brady said.
"They were attacking us continually in the second half but for our defence to hold like it did, it showed that the boys didn't want to give it up this time," he said.
Mid Northern captain Nick Lake said the loss was hard to take after they won the round robin so convincingly.
 "We created plenty of opportunities to score but we couldn't take them, we were snatching at the ball too much but Wellsford came up and played well and I wish them well for next week," he said.
Mid Northern 13 (D Howell try, 2 pen, con) Wellsford 18 (A Davis, M Wright tries, J Moimoi 2 pen, con)