Kildare Catholic College will meet arch-rivals Mater Dei Catholic College in next week's Hardy Shield grand final.
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Both teams overcame serious tests from gallant opposition to progress through to the decider at Parramore Park on Monday night.
Four consecutive tries either side of half-time helped Mater Dei to a match-winning lead in their 28-16 win over Mt Austin High School.
Two tries in five minutes to Mater Dei's Angus Curry helped break open the game as the victors had a bit too much polish for their opposition.
But to Mt Austin's credit, they never gave up and finished with the final three tries to run the game out strong.
Mater Dei coach Kurt McPherson had mixed emotions after his team's win.
"There were elements of the game we did well but just the enthusiasm was probably lacking tonight but very happy that we were able to get over them," McPherson said.
"They were a good side tonight and we knew they were going to be, they've been good all competition and I thought we would have to come with more enthusiasm but we just got the win luckily enough.
"We were good in patches and some of our forwards had some outstanding efforts. We're happy with the win but we've got a bit to work on."
Meantime, Kildare were forced to work hard for their 22-6 win over Wagga High School.
There was little between the two teams throughout the contest other than Kildare being able to capitalise on their chances.
A try on the stroke of half-time to Kildare hooker Zac Fairall give his team the lead and broke Wagga High's spirit somewhat.
Sam Macklan was instrumental in the win for Kildare, while Ben Cronin led the way for Wagga High.
Kildare coach Matt Conn was relieved to get the win.
"Wagga High have got a big physical side and we just had to do what we do and control our defence and once we got a bit of ball I knew we were going to grind them down," Conn said.
"It was just about finding the ball in patches because we turned it over a lot again tonight but I'm happy with their efforts, we had a margin and they scored one try early and then we held them strong."
Full-time
MATER DEI CATHOLIC COLLEGE 28 (A Curry 2, L Johnson, J Ferguson, W Hamblin tries; J Ferguson 4 goals) d MOUNT AUSTIN HIGH SCHOOL 16 (C Lyons, J Morgan, L Goolagong, Y Hall tries)
KILDARE CATHOLIC COLLEGE 22 (S Macklan, Z Fairall, C Brettschneider, N Cooper tries; B Crane 3 goals) d WAGGA HIGH SCHOOL 6 (M Driscoll try; B Cronin goal).
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