Tawa Key Protagonists In Swindale Decider

It could be all on at Lyndhurst Park this week, where Northern United play Tawa, where a win for Norths will give them the Swindale Shield and their third premier trophy in as many years after collecting the Andy Leslie Trophy in the Jubilee Cup round robin last season. An equation that sounds uncomplicated, but in Tawa their round eleven opposition promises to be far from a straightforward assignment for coach Eddie Ellison.

Tawa is a Jubilee Cup contender in their own right, laden with attacking talent and playing on their home turf. A win for them could see them finish as high as third, in what would be their best Swindale Shield campaign in several years. Another factor in their favour could be their freshness, with several players rested or playing off the bench in their round ten 30-18 win over Johnsonville. Conversely Norths were pushed extremely hard by HOBM in their 26-24 win last week and will be forced to lift two weeks in a row.

Waiting across the other side of the Belmont Hills will be Hutt Old Boys Marist, who will win the title if Norths lose to Tawa and they can beat Oriental-Ronogtai at the Hutt Recreation Ground - an easier proposition on paper at least. HOBM with 37 points are two points behind Norths, and in the event of both finishing with equal championship points Norths will still win by virtue of their round robin win over the Hutt side.

Marist St. Pats’ minor upset 30-21 win over Poneke last week ensured two things. First it ended Poneke’s charge for the silverware, while it also decided the top eight spots for next week’s Jubilee Cup with a round to spare. MSP’s supporters have had to endure an anxious last fortnight, but their side heads into the last weekend with the eighth and last Cup spot secured, with an eight point buffer between them and ninth placed Upper Hutt.

Nevertheless, for all eight teams not involved in the two Shield deciding games it will be about maintaining momentum heading into the second round of play, with three of the four remaining matches between top eight and bottom four sides. These include Avalon against Johnsonville at Fraser Park, Petone versus Western Suburbs at Ian Galloway Park and MSP up against Upper Hutt at Evans Bay Park. In the remaining fixture, third placed Poneke will want to get back on track against the impressive fourth placed Old Boys-University at the Prime Finance Basin Reserve.

Meanwhile, the Harper Lock Shield is set to go down to the wire, with five points separating the leading four teams. Poneke and HOBM are locked on 42 points, followed by Norths (39) and Wainuiomata (37). Last round matches will see HOBM and Poneke both up against mid table opposition in Ories and OBU respectively, while Norths will be expected to beat 10^th placed Paremata-Plimmerton.