Although Momona had already booked its place in the final, the match was a must-win for City and acted as a semifinal.
It was a daunting prospect for City, which was against an unbeaten opponent eager to keep its unbeaten record intact.
From the opening whistle, Momona continued its simple yet effective style of controlled attack, a style that has dispatched every opponent it has faced throughout the season and brought with it an element of inevitability.
No matter how resilient the defence seemed, Momona would eventually find its opening.
A determined City defence looked eager to change this pattern and knock the frontrunner off its perch, but once again the inevitable happened and Momona opened the scoring through a goal to Emily McNaughtan.
However, City's own style of hard and fast attack fought back and put pressure on Momona's defence as it battled through the midfield, but it could not find the opening it needed to keep its finals hopes alive.
Momona added to City's tension when Maddie McLean scored another controlled goal five minutes from halftime to give her side a 2-0 lead.
This forced City to find something to bring it back from the depths.
City returned to the turf with a clear goal: be the first to score. This was achieved minutes later when Ginny Spratt scored off the back of a penalty corner.
City looked excited after this goal and continued to search for an equaliser to give itself a chance at a rare upset.
Its celebrations were dashed, however, when Momona's Claudia Peyroux gate-crashed the party with her side's third goal.
City was staring down the barrel and although it never gave up, a two-goal deficit was a bridge too far and the game ended 3-1.
Momona will face University White in the premier women's final after the students thumped Taieri A 9-0 in their game.
In premier 2, City Highlanders B lost 2-0 to Kings United A, but will still face off against St Hilda's A in the final next Saturday after St Hilda's beat University Teals 3-0.
