The Wollongbar Alstonville Pioneers have gone down in in a thrilling Major Semi Final against the Casuarina Beach Barbarians in Far North Coast Rugby Union.

The Pioneers took the regular season Minor Premiership by 13 points and went into the Semi Finals as favourites, after the last meeting in Round 17 between the two sides resulted in a 52-19 victory to the Pioneers.

The home side had the perfect start after Sam Kerry scored in the third minute, followed by a Daniel Damen try just 4 minutes later had Casuarina reeling, another try to Kerry in the 23 minute and prop Ewan McQueen diving over on the stroke of halftime gave the Pioneers a 26-17 lead at the break.

A strong halftime rally by the Barbarians paid dividends in the second half as they began to chip away at the Pioneers lead.

The match had plenty of passion, with both sides pushing the boundaries to secure a week off.

In the end, Casuarina were able to pile on 20 points in the second half to run out 1 point winners in tense fiery final minutes 37-36. This means the Barbarians are the first team through to the FNC Rugby Union Grand Final.

The Pioneers were able to comfortably account for the Barbarians in Second Grade 44-10.

In another close result on Sunday, the Byron Shire Rebels edged out Ballina 39-36 to set up a replay of the 2023 Grand Final next week to decide who will meet Casuarina in this years decider.

The Rebels held a 22-12 lead at halftime before Ballina fought back to close within 3 points.

The Preliminary Final will be played at Quays Reserve, Ballina on Saturday at 3:15pm.

FAR NORTH COAST RUGBY UNION 

MAJOR SEMI FINAL RESULTS 14th SEPTEMBER 2024

First Grade

Casuarina Beach 37(Mitch Planten 2, Kai George, Samisoni Vereniki, Pat Williams tries, Kai George 3 conversions, 2 penalty goals) d Wollongbar Alstonville 36(Sam Kerry 2, Daniel Damen, Ewen McQueen, Louis Hollman tries, Bodi Smith 4 conversions, penalty goal)

Half Time: Wollongbar 26 - Casuarina 17

2nd Grade

Wollongbar Alstonville 44(Jarrod Wyllie, Cooper Love, Charlie Hollman, Blake Henderson, Zach Hyatt, Ryley Conlan, Hudson Love tries, Jarrod Wyllie 3 conversions, penalty goal) d Casuarina Beach10(Josh Harman, Drew Summers tries)

Half Time: Wollongbar 24 – Casuarina 10

Women’s

Casino 33(Samantha Codrington 2, Felicity Peters 2, Samara Leven tries, Felicity Peters 4 conversions) d Casuarina Beach 17(Brigid Isbester, Nicola Gee, Bonnie Robinson tries, Mahli Johnson conversion)

Half Time: Casino 26 – Casuarina Beach 5

Under 18’s

Lennox Head 17(Khi Edawards, Huey Young tries, Jesse Ingram 2 conversions, penalty goal) d Casuarina Beach 7(Luca Kirkwood try, Mani Lopez conversion)

Half Time: Lennox 17 – Casuarina 7