Cardiff gave captain Nic Kocon a fitting 300th match appearance for the Hawks as they beat Warners Bay 9.7 (61) to 5.10 (40) at No.1 Sportsground on Saturday to confirm a finals berth in Black Diamond AFL.
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The win saw the Hawks seal a finals appearance and was just reward for the long-serving Cardiff skipper.
The loss however meant Warners Bay slipped out of the top four.
Nelson Bay jumped ahead of Warners Bay and moved back into the top four with a 13.10 (88) to 5.7 (37) win over Killarney Vale.
Newcastle City and Terrigal had the weekend off.
House sees red in WPL shock loss
Jemma House did not get the send-off she was after when the Warners Bay midfielder was red-carded after their shock 4-2 loss to South Wallsend at John St Oval on Sunday.
Fifth-placed South Wallsend cannot make the Herald Women’s Premier League finals but on Sunday showed great character to fight back from 2-0 down at the break and register just their fifth win of the season.
Warners Bay had not lost a game since House returned to Newcastle in May after her first year playing football in the United States.
The Kurri Kurri 19-year-old, who was handed a red card for dissent post-match, returns to the US this week.
The match looked headed for a lop-sided scoreline early with Adriana Jones scoring a brace inside the first 20 minutes.
But South Wallsend striker Naomi Abbott scored a second-half hat-trick to inspire the visitors to victory. Kirralee Gardiner also scored.
On Saturday, Adamstown beat Mid North Coast 4-1 and Wallsend defeated Thornton 6-0.
Warners Bay get their chance to bounce back when they play Wallsend in a rescheduled fixture at Wallsend Oval on Thursday night.
They then back up against Mid North Cost in the final round of the season proper this weekend. Merewether play Wallsend and Southy take on Thornton.
Melmeth out as Hunters win
A knee injury to retiring guard Adam Melmeth took some of the gloss off Newcastle’s 74-64 Waratah Basketball League victory over Sutherland Sharks at Sutherland on Saturday night.
Newcastle (15-5) had already secured second spot before the game but their seventh straight win emphasised their status as the form team heading into the semi-finals at Terrigal on August 13.
Justynn Hammond enhanced his claims on the WBL’s Most Valuable Player award, scoring a game-high 35 points. Russell Hinder signed off with 17 points before departing for the US.
The Hunters women’s team bounced back from their only loss of the season to edge out the Sharks 69-60.
