Falcons fall agonisingly short

The Marlborough Boys' College First XV's season came to a cruel conclusing with a last minute 36 - 34 semifinal loss to Christ's College at Lansdowne Park this afternoon.

A large, vocal crowd in the stands did their best to cheer the Falcons home, while a strong Christ's support contingent also made the trip.

The first 15 minutes of the game was a real arm-wrestle, with Christ's breaking the deadlock after trying to bash down the front door with their forwards which eventually saw prop Tom Hazeldine break the deadlock.

Marlborough then benefitted from an error off the kickoff which led to a lineout maul crashing over in the arms of Ajay Gane, before scoring again after Anru Erasmus controlled a dropout with his feet and glided through the Christ's defence to give the Falcons the lead 12 - 7 after 20 minutes.

After a penalty for Christ's pulled the score to 2 points, some bullocking runs from Mason and Rico Nicklin gained Marlborough go forward which was ultimately finished with a switch play from Kyan Marcroft barging over to leave Marlborough up 19 - 10 at half time.

The Falcons continued their ascendency early in the second half where a kick inside the 5-meter line led to another maul try for Gane.

A slippery run from inspirational Christ's captain and number 6 Alf Markham gave Christ's hope, but another kickoff penalty for an accidental offside gave Ajay Gane and the Marlborough lineout maul a hat-trick.

Christ's found momentum, but a pass thrown out of touch allowed another launch for Marlborough off lineout, where a maul midfield crash which then found Vili Nawaqavonono who put away an acrobatic finish in the corner to make the score 34 - 15.

Another run from Markham broke through the middle of Marlborough's defence, before an offload allowed Max Airey to dive over with 15 to go to make it 34 - 21

Christ's received the kickoff and kept the pressure on with possession, threatening the Marlborough defense consistently with kick chases and darting runs from fullback Gavin Holder threatening with ball in hand all day,

Marlborough remained pinned in their own half, eventually seeing Lachie Beirne find space to score under the posts - making the score 34 - 29 with five minutes left and a nervy finish for the home crowd.

Marlborough benefitted from a box kick going out on the full, but a tap and go resulted in a knock on that handed the ball back.

The Falcons spent the final five minutes mostly camped in their own half putting in a valiant effort on defense, but a try in the last minute down the left wing resulted in a high-pressure kick from the sideline.

Despite plenty of noise from the crowd, the strike was true which resulted in huge celebrations for Christ's players and supporters and devastation for Marlborough.

First XV coach Tonga Taumoefolau said he was "proud of this team - win, lose or draw".

"I don't think any words can sort of take away how they're feeling right now, but all we can do is just stick together, hurt together, wake up tomorrow and we'll hurt again.

"It's just about being together and just reminding them this team was not built over one game, it's been building from 10 months ago, and developing a group of boys together, developing that relationship together in the trenches.

"The last couple of weeks have been building for this, and unfortunately we didn't get over the line, but you've got to take your hats off to Christ's College and say well done to them, because they deserve this victory by playing right through to the last minute which won the game."

The final will be an all-Christchurch affair, as Christchurch Boys' High School won a similarly close game over Nelson College 37 - 35 to host the final next week.

Elsewhere around Marlborough's Senior A competition, Renwick knocked off a game Harlequins 33 - 19, while top of the table Waitohi squeaked a 35 - 28 win over Central and Awatere beat Pelorus 23 - 0 in Havelock.