Ngongotaha move into grand final | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

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"I'm off to the grand final," were the words of celebration from Ngongotaha captain Joe Nuku after their team won a tough semifinal over Pikiao 30-28.

More than 1500 people watched the do or die match between the two Rotorua teams at Puketawhero Park at the weekend.

Ngongotaha will meet Otumoetai, in the Bay of Plenty-Coastline-Gisborne grand final in Tauranga on Saturday.

The result was clearly evident on the faces of both teams when the final whistle blew full-time.

Nuku told The Daily Post he was proud of his team effort.

"It was a hard game but we stuck together and came out with the win.

"I'm overwhelmed we've won."

It was a hard-fought match with it going down to the wire with Pikiao needing to convert a try to tie up the game with time up on the clock.

They were unsuccessful and the celebrations began for Ngongotaha.

However, before the game began it was obvious it was going to be something special with Pikiao's supporters performing a haka for their team.

From the kick-off, Pikiao were able to make easy yardage because of two silly penalties from Ngongotaha, which lead to Pikiao left centre Matere Simeon scoring the first of his two tries, with only two minutes on the clock.

Pikiao loose forward Jermaine Muagututia was unsuccessful with the conversion and would only convert two of Pikiao's six tries.

It took nearly 15 minutes of physical play from both sides before the next points would be added by clever dummy half running from Ngongotaha player Raymond Luke.

He had no trouble converting his own try and had a 100 per cent kicking record with five from five for the day.

Luke was a standout for Ngongotaha with his sniping runs and clever kicks which led to their second try when Pikiao's fullback Pirikawana Taiatini failed to regather a kick near his own line and Nuku pounced on the ball.

The past two weeks Pikiao have started strongly but midway through the first half they've tapered off, letting their opponents back into the game.

With about five minutes to go to the break, Pikiao were down 18-4 but thanks to some slick backline passing they found some space on the left side for Taiatini Taiatini to score a converted try under the post.

Ngongotaha appeared to have the game comfortably tied up when they scored two early tries in the second half.

But with 20 minutes to go, Pikiao lifted their game and scored four tries, only to be denied the win by the lack of a kicker.

Pikiao captain Jason Kameta said he was disappointed with the loss but proud of how his team had performed for the season.

"We set ourselves a goal of making the semifinals and anything after that was a bonus.

"So we reached our goal.

"This will only make us stronger for next year."

• Major semifinal scores:

Ngongotaha 30 (Raymond Luke, Joe Nuku, Scotty Thompson 2, Beau St George tries; Raymond Luke 5 goals) Pikiao 28 (Matere Simeon 2, Pirikawana Taiatini, B J Raroa, Jermaine Muagututia, Joe Galvin-Dawson tires; Jermaine Muagututia 2 goals) Halftime: 18-10.

Other results:

Premier reserves semifinal: Pacific 32 Otumoetai 26. Under 17 grand-final: Taupo 40 Pacific 22.