SCREAMING fans ran onto the field as referee Johnson Lee signalled the end of the Deans Cup quarter-final encounter between Assemblies of God High School and Natabua where AG won with a final score at 15-9 last week.
AG and Ratu Kadavulevu School won their respective games to advance through to the next stage of the eliminations of the Deans Trophy competition. RKS defeated Lautoka Central School in the first quarter-final at Prince Charles Park in Nadi.
In what was described as two of the most ferocious secondary school rugby encounters, RKS romped over Lautokas Central College 28-10 while Assemblies of God High School ran in three tries against favourites Natabua High School .
AOGHS take on Queen Victoria School in the first semi-final of the Under 18 Deans competition.
Meanwhile, the U18 quarter-final rematch between Lelean Memorial School and Nasinu Secondary School was played yesterday as a curtain-raiser match to the AOGHS and QVS showdown. The two teams met last week during the Deans quarter-final at Ratu Cakobau Park which resulted in a 3-all draw. However, LMS was declared the winner because they had scored first. In response, NSS protested the inclusion of a player who did not meet the requirements of the competition. The Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union awarded the protest in favour of NSS but ordered for a rematch to decide the second semi-final spot against RKS.
In the Under 17 grade last week, Ratu Navula Secondary School of Nadi ran riot over Marist Brothers High School 33-18. The Nadi based schools dream team proved too much for the Kaunikuila team in their U17 quarter-finals at Prince Charles Park. In another match, QVS scored a late try in dying seconds of their U17 clash with Ba Provincial College of Lautoka. Ba Provincial College thought they had the game in the bag when lock Sikeli Vonotabei broke through flimsy QVS defence to edge the score to 15-18. However Vonotabei`s opposite number in the Blues smashed over the tryline in the dying seconds to give QVS victory 20-18.