Athletic Marist lock Epineri Logavatu leaps to score in the corner to skip past Excelsior centre Oli Knopp during a Citizens Shield game earlier this season. PHOTO: YAMMIE MCKENZIE PHOTOGRAPHY Life resumes as normal in North Otago for the semifinals tomorrow. The Citizens Shield semifinals were pushed back a week after the Waitaki District Council closed all grounds last weekend following the state of emergency flooding in the district. While teams were out and about doing the heavy lifting to help with the clean up, their attention will turn back to the field this weekend. After the new crossover rounds — replacing the former lifeline playoff system — Valley, Excelsior, Athletic Marist and Old Boys have all advanced to the semifinals. Maheno, who beat Athies 42-31 in the final crossover round, missed the top four by one point — after Old Boys beat Excelsior 29-24 to grab fourth — while Kurow were out of the running. Valley, who remain the benchmark and are unbeaten this season, will host an unpredictable Old Boys team. The men from Weston continue to find a way to win, despite being plagued with injuries throughout the season, and will go in as favourites. Old Boys had a slow start to the season but have come through strongly in the latter parts of the season to sneak into the semifinals in fourth spot. Valley pipped Old Boys 29-27 on June 6 and won 33-20 on April 25. Excelsior and Athies will meet for the fourth time this season in the 2 v 3 semifinal. Defending champions Blues wrapped up the regular season second and will host the battle of the carpark fixture again. They have both beaten each other this season: Athies won 34-25 on June 6, and Blues won 26-17 on April 25. But the last outing — during the first week of the crossover games — ended in a 19-19 draw. It will make for an intriguing encounter that no doubt will attract a big crowd at Centennial Park. The winners will advance straight to the final next week.
