Newcastle have turned the tables on Minor Premiers Gold Coast-Tweed in their Quarter Final on the Gold Coast, earning another week off and the Grand Final at home in Newcastle.
Both signs were showing nerves as it took 6 attempts to get the mandatory shots over the net to decide who would serve first. Finally Gold Coast-Tweed won first serve but slipped to 4-6 by half-way through the match. From there Gold Coast-Tweed looked shaky and uncertain as Newcastle settled and moved to a 9-6 lead. From 10-7 Gold Coast-Tweed managed to fight back to 10-9, but the matched ended with what was arguable the point of the season as both sides traded base-line smashes before Newcastle prevailing with an amazing shot to the edge of the table that Gold Coast-Tweed couldn't possibly reac, securing an 11-9 win.
Meanwhile in Christchurch, South New Zealand started the match on fire against a sloppy-looking Sydney hoping to continue their 5-match winning streak. South New Zealand appeared to have a tactic to smash Sydney off the table, howeve despite poor early form Sydney managed to hold on at 4-6 at half time. The match then turned in terms of style and Sydney went into power mode, at times missing the mark and sending the ball over the backboard and out of the stadium. The tactic eventually paid off though as South New Zealand lost focus, despite the urgings of their Mascot The Big Peter Jackson, and slipped to 7-10. Sydney secured the 11-7 win with a fortunate bounce off the net that left South New Zealand short-footed.
The result ends South New Zealand's season, a result they were disappointed with after keeping touch with the top teams for most of the season. Sydney will travel to the Gold Coast to play Gold Coast-Tweed for the second Grand Final spot against Newcastle.
Sydney continue a remarkable run, having won 6 matches in a row since Round 8, before which they were down on 9th and looking at risk of ending up in the relegation zone.
QUARTER FINAL RESULTS:
Newcastle 11 d Gold Coast-Tweed 9 (at Gold Coast)
Sydney 11 d South New Zealand 7 (at Christchurch)
SEMI FINAL:
Week off: Newcastle
Gold Coast-Tweed v Sydney (at Gold Coast)
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