Photo: Getty Images The more things change, the more they stay the same. Valley and Excelsior will meet in the Citizens Shield final for a fourth straight season after both sides secured wins in their respective semifinals on Saturday. Excelsior knocked off rivals Athletic Marist 38-24 in a dominant display. It was a red-hot start for Blues, who controlled the ball for almost the entire opening 20 minutes. They shot out to an early 19-0 off the back of their dominance with three well-worked tries. Athies were then able to finally get their hands on the ball and looked good when they were able to hold on to it. They got on the board just before halftime as a good kick to touch from a penalty had them in prime attacking position. They were then able to recycle the ball quickly and carry hard, eventually putting Taani Latulala over in the corner. Their momentum was short-lived, however, as Excelsior extended their lead just after halftime. Athies tried to clear from their own half but the pass into the pocket hit the deck and was fumbled around before Blues kicked it ahead. As it rolled into the in-goal, Apenisia Tuiba beat everyone to it and scored. They were in again not long after through dynamic winger Seva Druma. Some nice passing from the men with low numbers on their back put him in space but there was still plenty to do. Druma dashed away and managed to stay infield to dot down in the corner as he was being tackled by the recovering defence. Athies were able to stop the bleeding momentarily as Mateo Qolisese crashed over, but Blues hit right back with Tevita Vonotabua scoring his second try of the game to put the game to bed. Two late tries to Athies helped the scoreboard look more flattering but Blues still walked away with an impressive win. It was one of Excelsior’s finer performances of the year with their scrum dominance a huge asset. Their senior players stood up when needed and, ultimately, they made fewer mistakes than their opponent. Valley enter Saturday’s final having not lost a game all year, including a 31-15 win over Old Boys in the semifinal on Saturday. The only blemish on their record is a draw with Athletic Marist way back in round two. It was not all smooth sailing for the competition front-runners as they had to overcome a halftime deficit against Old Boys. Trailing 10-7 at the break, Valley ran in 24 second-half points to get the job done.
