DLS cap a special season

Drummond-Limehills-Star turned what was already a memorable 2021 into an even more special year on Saturday.

DLS held on for a deserved 20-15 win over Te Anau in the division two CJ Soper Trophy final, played at Limehills.

Earlier in the season, the Drummond Rugby Club celebrated 100 years, which in itself was enough to make 2021 a year to remember.

What DLS lacked in size against Te Anau on Saturday they made up for in spirit as they hung on for victory in a game which could have gone either way.

It was Te Anau who started best and held the upper hand in the first half before the home team started to take charge.

‘‘I thought we were pretty nervous, which was fair enough for a final, but we were just panicking a wee bit when we finally got the ball,’’ DLS captain Stanley Smith said soon after fulltime.

‘‘But we knew we were going to wear them down, we are quite a fit team.

‘‘We are a lot smaller than them, the boys have always shown we can play 80 minutes regardless of what’s happening.’’

For DLS, Saturday’s win capped off a strong season, for Te Anau it summed up what has been an up and down year.

Te Anau started the year aiming to play in Southland’s premier competition following last year’s fairytale-like performance to win the division one Ack Soper Shield in a Covid-19 disrupted season.

However, weeks out from the start of the season the club opted to line up in division one.

Through the process, some key players decided to link with the Eastern Northern-Barbarians to play premier rugby.

Te Anau struggled early on in division one and eventually found their home in the division two CJ Soper Trophy competition where they started to string some encouraging performances together.

They toppled Star B in the semifinal in Te Anau but were unable to go one step further on Saturday in the final against DLS.

Two other division two finals were also played on Saturday.

Marist and Waiau Star squared off in the Life Members Trophy final at the Les George Oval which Marist won 27-24.

Balfour took out the Past Presidents Shield title with a 41-27 win over Ohai-Nightcaps-Otautau.