John McGlashan College beat South Otago High School 22-17 to win the Otago premier schools competition this afternoon.
The hosts outscored South Otago three tries to one in the match, but had to come back from a four-point deficit at the break.
Played in bitterly cold conditions, captain Rory Ferguson opened the scoring via a smart lineout move inside the first five minutes.
However, his side would not score again in the first half as South Otago centre Matt Whaanga banged over three penalties to give his side a 9-5 lead at halftime.
Despite playing into the wind in the second half, South Otago extended its lead to 14-5 early in the second spell when hooker Brady Robertson pounced on a charged down kick.
But the hosts finally stepped up a gear in the final 20 minutes. A try to substitute Morgan Jones and a penalty to Daine Lowery saw John McGlashan take a 15-14 lead with about 15 minutes left on the clock.
Second-five eighth Reece Stackhouse crashed over to make it 22-14 a few minutes later to extend the lead past a converted try.
Whaanga landed a late penalty goal to give South Otago a glimmer of hope, but John McGlashan hung on to win the ODT Cup.
In the other matches, Otago Boys' 2nd XV beat Waitaki Boys' High School, Dunstan High School beat King's High School 17-13, Kavanagh College beat Taieri College 17-7 and Otago Boys' 3rd XV beat West Otago 47-14.
Full story in Monday's ODT.
