Masters Touch National Championships – Finals Day

The Masters finals of the 2010 New Zealand Community Trust National Touch Championships were completed today with plenty of sensational Touch action and results that went down to the wire.

The first ever Over 50 Mens final contested at Nationals was a tense encounter between Wellington and North Harbour. In a thrilling game, Wellington clinched it in the final minute to win it 4-3.

North Harbour were victorious in the Over 45 Mens category, securing a strong 5-2 win over Auckland. Harbour pulled away in the second half after a 2-2 halftime score.

The club got another win soon after when their Over 35s Mixed team got the better of Auckland, who came back after a sluggish start to tie the game and force a drop off. Harbour wasn’t to be denied though and eventually won 5-4.

A high-scoring Over 30s Mixed Final had the crowd on their feet as Wellington came from behind to tie the game at 9-9 and then win in the drop off. Wellington’s final try in regular time featured the ball passing through nine sets of hands in an amazing play the finished well after the final whistle was blown.

The tight finals continued in the Over 30s Womens category when Canterbury and North Harbour got down to three players in the drop off. North Harbour eventually prevailed 4-3 after Canterbury could not chase down a break of the line.

The final match of the day saw a dominant Canterbury side put away Bay of Plenty in the Over 30 Mens final 7-3.

Overall Results

Over 30 Men’s Canterbury def Bay Of Plenty

Over 30 Mixed Wellington def Auckland (Extra time drop off to decide winner)

Over 30 Women’s North Harbour def Canterbury (Extra time drop off to decide winner)

Over 35 Mixed North Harbour def Auckland (Extra time drop off to decided winner)

Over 40 Men’s Auckland def Counties Manukau

Over 45 Men’s North Habour def Auckland

Over 50 Men’s Wellington def North Harbour

North Harbour 3 Golds 1 Silver

Wellington 2 Golds

Auckland 1 Gold 3 Silver

Canterbury 1 Gold

BOP 1 Silver

To top off an exhilarating afternoon of top Touch 3 of the Masters Trans Tasman teams were named. Over 40 Men’s, Over 45 Men’s, Over 50 Men’s Full lists are available on www.touchnz.co.nz