Unbeaten Maheno will meet Valley in the Citizens Shield final next Saturday.
Robbie Smith’s boot guided the side to snatch a 34-33 victory over Old Boys.
Meanwhile, Valley held on to beat Kurow 23-19.
Smith put the green and blacks in front after 10 minutes when he kicked a penalty.
Ten minutes later, Lewis Johnson found a hole and Smith added the conversion to take Maheno to a 10-0 lead.
Old Boys played some of its best rugby in the second quarter and almost immediately after Johnson’s try, experienced back Lemi Masoe sliced through for a try, which Inoke Naufahu converted.
Five minutes later, a further Smith penalty took Maheno out to a 13-7 lead, before Old Boys took the lead when the forward pack in aggressive mood drove prop Felepi Funaki over for a try and Naufahu converted.
Early in the second half, Smith added two penalties to put Maheno back into a 19-14 lead.
Funaki crossed for his second try minutes later and hooker Ralph Darling scored seven minutes later, Naufahu’s conversions putting Old Boys out to a 28-19 lead.
But Smith added a try and a conversion to narrow the score to 28-26.
With 10 minutes remaining, Maheno that got the break as left wing Bryden Skinner crossed for an unconverted try, giving his side a 31-28 lead.
Old Boys refused to give in and tighthead prop Sione Asi scored to take a 33-31 lead, before Smith added the icing for Maheno with a late penalty.
The other semifinal, between Valley and Kurow, produced another close decision.
The boots of Kurow’s Tyler Burgess and Valley’s Ben Paton dominated the scoring early on.
They swapped two penalties each in the first 20 minutes.
The only try of the first 40 minutes came five minutes from halftime, when Valley captain and flanker Cameron Rowland broke from a rolling maul and fed supporting prop Jake Greenslade.
Paton converted the try, giving Valley a 13-6 lead at halftime.
Kurow left wing Sam Fleming narrowed the score to 13-11, but Valley hit back midway through the half when Valley No8 Junior Fakatoufifita intercepted a pass and Paton’s conversion put Valley out to a 20-11 lead.
The final quarter saw replacement Glen Robertson add an unconverted try to a Burgess penalty with 10 minutes remaining to bring the scores to 20-19.
Paton’s final penalty cemented Valley’s lead for a place in the final next weekend.
- Terry O'Neill