Lower grade playoffs this weekend

The major silverware has been won for the year, but there's still several lower grade trophies still to be decided in the next fortnight.

This weekend sees semi-finals of the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup and Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Cup competitions, as well as the Age Grade Division 2 and 3 playoffs and the Reserve Grade and U85kg Division 1 finals.

In the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup, top qualifiers the Wellington Axemen host fourth placed Tawa at Hataitai Park on Saturday at 3.00pm and third and fourth placed qualifiers Paremata-Plimmerton and Poneke meet in the other semi-final at Ngati Toa Domain at 3.00pm.

In a close race to the semi-finals, Wellington will hope to progress to the final after winning eight from nine in the second round. Their only loss - and their only loss of the season - was back in round 3 when they missed out to eighth placed finishers Upper Hutt 12-16 at Maidstone Park. They go into this week's semi-final having scored 732 points and conceded 227 in their 19 matches to date. Tawa have bounced back from their wooden spoon finish in the first round Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield to have won five from nine in the Ed Chaney Cup to qualify fourth. These two teams met in the last round just last week, with Wellington winning 25-22.

In the other Ed Chaney Cup semi-final, Paremata-Plimmerton finished second behind Wellington after winning six from nine in the round-robin and Poneke qualified third with six wins as well. Paremata-Plimmerton edged out Poneke 20-15 when these sides met at Kilbirnie Park four weeks ago, Poneke prevailed 34-27 when they met in their first round Harper Lock Shield clash at the very start of the season. ?

There was a clear separation between the top four teams and the rest of the field in the just completed Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Cup, but amongst these semi-finalists it could be tight.

With their 24-12 win over Petone last week, Old Boys University clinched top spot and will meet fourth placed qualifier Petone again in this week's semi-final at Martin Luckie Park at 1.00pm.

Hutt Old Boys Marist, who remained unbeaten for the first seven rounds of the HD Morgan Memorial before losing to OBU 21-30 in round 8, host Marist St Pat's in the other semi-final at the Hutt Recreation Ground at 1.00pm. MSP's only loss in the just completed 9-week round-robin was to HOBM 7-26 in the opening week, so this could also prove a closely fought semi-final.

In the playoffs to determine the finishing order of the rest of the teams in the HD Morgan competition, fifth placed Stokes Valley host eighth placed Poneke at Delaney Park at 3.00pm, sixth plaved Ories and seventh placed Norths clash at the Polo Ground at 1.00pm and ninth and tenth placed Avalon and Wests play at Fraser Park at 1.00pm. The Avalon - Wests clash is a big one for both clubs, with the loser set to be relegated to Senior 3 for 2013 to be replaced by Wainuiomata.

In the final of the U85kg Paul Potiki Shield, the unbeaten MSP Blues and the Tawa Titans meet at Te Whaea at 3.00pm. At the same time on the Hutt Rec, HOBM and MSP Green square off in the playoff for third and fourth.

In the final of the Reserve Grade Division 1,? neighbours the MSP Internationals and the Poneke Ruffnuts meet at Evans Bay Park at 3.00pm. In the playoff for third and fourth the Upper Hutt J8s and the Johnsonville Cripples play at Maidstone Park at 3.00pm.

The Reserve Grade Division 2 semifinals will be an all OBU affair, with the OBU Righteous Brothers (1) and the OBU Yardies (4) meeting in one match on Martin Luckie Park and the OBU 69rs (2) and the OBU Pink Ginners (3) playing there in the other.

Starting on Friday night there's the playoffs of the Vic Calcinai Memorial Cup Age Grade Division 2 competition, when second and third placed qualifiers OBU Black and Avalon meet at Te Whaea at 7.30pm. On Saturday Tawa (1) host OBU White (4) at Lyndhurst Park in the other semi-final, and Poneke (5) and Norths (6) play at Kilbirnie Park to determine the minor placings.

Saturday's first week of playoffs in the Eric Connolly Cup Age Grade Division 3 competition see Johnsonville (1) and Avalon (4) meet at Helston Park in the major semi-final and Petone (2) White and Wainuiomata (3) play in the other. Norths (5) and Wests (6) play for fifth and sixth place.

There's also a full round of Presidents Grade mates on Saturday, ahead of next week's Presidents Day, hosted by Northern United this year.

In the big match of the day on Saturday in college First XV action, St Pat's Silverstream hosts Gisborne Boys' High School from 1.00pm in one semi-final of the Hurricanes Region competition.

?