First final of the year on Friday night

Above: Leaders Paremata-Plimmerton could book a home semi-final with next week's final round to spare in the Senior 1 competition if they beat Ories on Saturday.

The first Wellington club rugby final of the year takes place under lights at Porirua Park at 7.00 pm on Friday night when the Premier Women’s title, and with it the Victoria Tavern Trophy, is decided.

Northern United will be on home turf, having accounted for Old Boys-University last week by 63-5, and are undefeated all season. They will face an Oriental-Rongotai side who defeated defending champions Wainuomata 25-7 at the Polo Ground. The two sides faced off only a fortnight ago on the neutral turf of Te Whaea, won by Norths 32-19. When the two sides met in the first round Fleurs Trophy Norths prevailed narrowly by 17-13, so indications are that this will be an entertaining match. Norths particularly will want to atone for losses in the last two finals.

Norths? have a wealth of experience, particularly in the forward pack with captain and former Black Fern Moana Aiatu, Sanita Levave, Patsy Schwalger, Brenda Collins and player-coach Aimee Sutorious, and may be able to call on the services of Melodie Bosman following the Black Ferns series win over England. Together with Tawa College schoolgirl Shayna Burt, who has played well in the number seven shirt, this group has given their backline a very effective platform to operate from.

Ories on the other hand have a number of players under 21, with many still at school including lock Joanah Ngan-woo and halfback Rachel Tuma’ai, but also a few older heads like Miriam Grace to add experience to enthusiasm. Much will rest on their ability to meet the Norths pack up front and on the shoulders of first-five-eighth and Sevens rep Lizzie Goulden to guide them around the park.

John E Kelly Memorial Cup semi-finals

The other teams in playoff action this weekend are the Colts Division 1 in the semi-finals for the John E Kelly Memorial Cup. Top qualifier OBU Green will host Wellington’s young Axemen in one match-up at Te Whaea at 1.00 pm, while Hutt Old Boys Marist Green will take on Norths in the other on the #2 ground at the Hutt Rec at 1.15 pm, with the prize for all teams being a place in the first game up on finals day next Sunday.

OBU and HOBM have been the form sides all year and should be favoured to go through, with OBU undefeated and HOBM’s only two losses having been at the hands of the young Goats. However, Norths have been the improvers of the second round and Wellington have been consistent and both will believe that they can spring the upset. In their round-robin match-ups OBU defeated Wellington 22-12 and HOBM defeated Norths 21-14.

Ed Chaney Cup

The Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup enters its penultimate round of play with three sides all but certain of semi-final places, while at the other end the fight is on to avoid being the two teams relegated to Senior 2 for 2014.

Paremata-Plimmerton head the competition on 27 points and host Oriental-Rongotai at Ngatitoa Domain at 3.00 pm. Two points from the game will assure Pare-Plim a semi-final place and a win will go a long way towards securing a home semi-final. Ories, promoted mid-season, are one of three teams in a tie in fourth and will want a win to stay in the hunt, otherwise their fate may rest in the hands of others next week.

Second-placed Tawa travel to the Hutt Rec to take on HOBM and a win will also secure a semi-final spot. The Eagles are in that tie for fourth and face the same situation as Ories. Wainuiomata is the third side who can secure a semi-final place and would be favoured to do so when they host a ninth-placed Poneke side who desperately need a result to help avoid relegation at William Jones Park at 1.15pm.

Petone, the third of those teams tied for fourth, visit bottom side Upper Hutt. A win for the Villagers could put them alone in fourth with a week to go and confirm relegation for Upper Hutt, while a win for the home side would shake up both races.? The final game pits MSP and Norths against each other at Evans Bay Park. While both sides are out of contention for a semi-finals berth the winner will confirm their status in this grade for next season while the loser may face a nervous final weekend.

The HOBM v Tawa, MSP v Norths and Upper Hutt v Petone games all kick off this week at the slightly earlier time of 12.45 pm.

HD Morgan Memorial Cup

In the Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Cup the game of the round has the table-topping Wests Roosters heading to Delaney Park to face third-placed Stokes Valley at 3.00 pm. Second-placed OBU hosts mid-table Petone at Nairnville Park at while fourth-placed Avalon visits fifth-placed Wainuiomata.

The other two matches involve the current bottom four sides with Johnsonville hosting Norths at Helston Park, while Poneke makes the trip across the road to face MSP. The competition is tightly bunched though with only 8 points between Stokes Valley in third and MSP and Johnsonville at the bottom so the season isn’t yet over for any of these teams, while the spectre of relegation to Senior 3 – assuming the winners of that grade are eligible for promotion - is also ever-present.

All matches are 1.15 pm kickoffs, with the exception of the Stokes Valley v Wests game.

Under 85kg Division 1 and 2 grades

The Division 1 Under 85kg lightweight action this week has the OBU Bunnies visiting Hataitai Park to face Wellington at 1.15 pm, Eastbourne hosting the MSP Reds at HW Shortt Park at 3.00 pm, while the Tawa Titans return to action after a three-week layoff caused by postponements and their bye when they play the OBU Spartans at Te Whaea at 3.00 pm. The MSP Blues have the bye.

Division 2 games have Upper Hutt hosting HOBM on the Maidstone artificial at 1.30 pm, with games at 3.00 pm between Petone and Wainuiomata on the Petone Rec and the Poneke Cavs and Stokes Valley at Kilbirnie Park.

Finally as its school holidays there’s no action in the College Premier 1 competition which returns with the semi-finals next weekend.