Kempsey Saints and Macleay Valley Rangers to battle for last Zone Premier League grand final spot

The Macleay Valley Rangers will battle it out with the Kempsey Saints on Saturday, September 16, for the remaining grand final spot after they were narrowly defeated by Port United in a tightly contested semi-final.

In a high energy game, strong defence in the first half left the score 0-all at halftime.

Port United coach Brett Swain said a failure to execute in the first half kept the Rangers in the contest and once they scored the first goal they grew in confidence.

"We created quite a few chances and just didn't finish them [in the first half]," he said. "Defensively, [the Rangers] were doing their job, and it was a bit of a grind."

After United gained strong momentum early in the second half, a quick manoeuvre from Lachlan Paynting to Josh Snowden secured Port United the first and only goal of the game. They will now host the Zone Premier League grand final in two weeks time.

The Kempsey Saints kept their season alive after defeating Port Saints in the elimination final with a goal in the second half.

"It was a grind for most of it," Kempsey Saints coach Dean Crotty said after the game. "We knew at halftime that it was going to be a hard game to win."

Crotty credited their victory to the team's attacking efforts.

"I think we were the better team on the weekend, we had more clean chances," he said. "Their goal keeper had an amazing day, he was on fire.

"It would've been 4-0 if their goal keeper didn't play as well as he did. We had them them under the pump for the majority of the game."

After a slow start to the season, Crotty said the team has peaked at the right time and they're "far from finished" as they look to snatch the remaining grand final spot from their local arch-rivals.

"A little bit of belief and confidence goes a long way," he said. "After we finally got our first win, we started to gain more confidence.

"The team dynamic has been really good at the moment, and that's been the most important thing."

Crotty said he's expecting a tough game against the Rangers who are looking to make amends after their loss to United.

"It will be a close game, and I won't be surprised if there's only one goal in it again," he said.

"I am looking forward to this game because we're far from finished."

Five clubs will be represented on Group 3 Rugby League grand final day on Saturday at the Port Macquarie Regional Stadium.

Port Macquarie (first grade, under 18s), Port City (reserve grade, under 18s, women's league tag), Old Bar (first grade), Macleay Valley (reserve grade) and Taree City (women's league tag) will all be involved.

This will also be the first time the grand finals have been played at the Port Stadium since 2018. The 2019 games were at Wauchope while Old Bar hosted last year's fixtures. There was no competition in 2020 due to the pandemic and the 2021 season was cut short when the state went into lockdown.

Old Bar will be playing a second successive grand final. The Pirates were beaten 20-12 in last year's game at Old Bar. Old Bar hasn't won a first grade premiership since 1999.

Port Macquarie's last premiership was in 2018 when the Sharks accounted for Port City 18-10. The Sharks downed Old Bar 24-10 in the major semi-final at Old Bar on Sunday, September 3.

Old Bar defeated Macleay Valley 34-24 in the final at Old Bar last Sunday.

The games will start at 10.30 with the league tag clash between Taree City and Port City. Under 18s (Port Sharks-Port City) will be underway from noon with the grand final (Port City-Macleay Valley) kicking off at 1.30. The first grade is timed to start at 3.15.

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