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Luisetti Seeds North Canterbury Division 1 - Final

10 Aug 2011

Glenmark needed a comeback victory to claim their 30^th Luisetti Seeds North Canterbury Division One final against Oxford at Rangiora on Saturday.

The 18-7 win allowed them to salvage some silverware from the season, after they failed to retain the combined competition title in June.

Oxford, who won the title in 1999 and 2009, were consigned to their 10^th final defeat since the grand final concept was introduced in 1983.

They opened the scoring early, when wing Shark Prescott crossed untouched following a blindside scrum move close to the line. Oxford failed to capitalise on the momentum, but Glenmark too let chances go begging.

However, the second half saw a change in fortunes. Fullback Brook Retallick got Glenmark on the board after five minutes with a penalty goal, before skipper Jimmy Frame scored from an Oxford error to give his side the lead.

Oxford’s chances took a further dive when Will Sellwood was yellow-carded, allowing Glenmark to use the advantage to good effect.

With 10 minutes to play, a quick tap near the Oxford line saw the ball swung wide, where it found the hands of veteran lock Jody Horrell. Retallick sealed the deal with a late drop goal.

Glenmark coach Hugh McIntosh said he was pleased to hold at least one title after the team relinquished their grip on the combined trophy. The final was “very close”, he said.

“We weren’t guaranteed the win really until the last 10 to 15 minutes.”

Oxford had the tougher semi final, having played 100 minutes against Kaiapoi a week earlier after the match went into extra time. Hugh felt the opposition may have been feeling the effects. “They played really well early on, but I think our defence was what won us the game, particularly early in the second half.

“Oxford were hammering away on our 22, and went just held them for what seemed like about five minutes. Then, we got a turnover and broke out, and I think that broke their back a wee bit.”

After winning the combined final last year, but then failing to make the North Canterbury final, Saturday’s win was “very satisfying”. There was not much between the top three teams, he said.

“The combined competition is the harder competition to win, and when you’ve won that three quarters of the way through your season, it’s really hard to get back up. I think that was part of our downfall last year.”