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Old Boys have surged into the Citizens Shield semifinals with a dominant win over the defending champions.
Their 29-24 win over Excelsior on Saturday helped them hold on to fourth spot on the ladder.
They started fast as Sione Tukala scored after a strong carry.
Old Boys followed that up a few minutes later with another try.
Midfielder Mac Harris burst on to a short ball to break the line.
He dashed away downfield before linking up with Hateni Tafolo, who ran in their second.
A penalty off the boot of Mason James had Old Boys in front 15-0 before Blues finally got on the board.
Temesia Bolavuvu crashed over just before halftime.
Blues were not able to carry that momentum into the second half, however, as a brilliant individual try from Kadin Turner extended Old Boys’ lead.
The winger danced through three would-be tacklers on his way to the line.
Old Boys then put the game beyond reach with a superb counter-attack try.
Blues spilled the ball just 10m out from the line and Old Boys decided to play with it.
They spun it out to the right and chewed off easy metres before recycling the ball and shifting it back out to the left to Villiame Mainawalala.
The big lock threw a dummy, stepped inside his defender and had too much pace as he ran in under the sticks.
Blues showed plenty of fight late as they clawed back
three consolation tries to walk away with a bonus point in the loss.
For Old Boys, it was an important win to keep their title hopes alive.
They will meet Valley, who remain unbeaten this season, in the semifinals next weekend.
The men from Weston beat Kurow 66-24 in another dominant display, running in 10 tries.
Maheno just narrowly missed out on the semifinals despite beating Athletic Marist 42-31 on Saturday.
Old Boys’ win meant the green machine miss out on the top four after a resurgent season.
Athies will have to dust themselves off and front up next week as they take on Excelsior in the other semifinal.
