The Santa Monica Dolphins and the Back Bay Sharks will battle it out in the Southern California Division One championship game following solid performances in the semi-finals.

In one semi, Santa Monica shut out Belmont Shore in the second half to run away with a big time 64-21 victory. It was anyone's game at halftime with Shore up 21-20, but the Dolphins jumped ahead early in the second stanza and Shore wasn't able to answer back.

Santa Monica romped in for a total of nine tries on the day against three to Belmont Shore. Dolphins' goal kicking flyhalf Kain Cross had another impressive day scoring a try and landing three penalties and five conversions for a personal haul of 24 points.

"I was very concerned at halftime, but I knew the boys had it in them to come back and they did," said Dolphins manager Danny Benjamin. "We were in the Sweet 16 last year, but before that it was about 15 to 20 years, so this is a very good achievement to be in the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row."

In the other semi, Back Bay went down to San Diego to tackle OMBAC and earned their place in the SoCal League final with a 24-10 win. It was four tries to one for the Sharks, most of the scoring coming in the second period of play. Openside flanker Rob Woodbyrne and scrumhalf Rainer Ball were among the Sharks' standout players.

It's the first time ever that Back Bay has qualified for the Sweet Sixteen tournament, so the club is very excited at the prospect of matching it with the best from around the country.

"It was a good rugby game, it really was," said Back Bay president Ed Burlingham. "Both teams were well organized and played hard. We played a good first half, but missed a few opportunities. The game went back and forth and we scored our last try right on full-time. It should be a good game against Santa Monica."

The championship game, to be played in Santa Barbara on April 27th, will be a showdown between the best from Los Angeles County (Dolphins) and the best from Orange County (Sharks). The winner goes into USA Rugby's national clubs championship seeded number one from Southern California, the loser as number two seed.

Both Benjamin and Burlingham are looking forward to the contest.

An issue that could become a hot topic of discussion in the off-season is whether or not both Belmont Shore and OMBAC ought to be allowed to continue fielding teams in the First Division, given their involvement with the USA Rugby Super League.

A number of Division One clubs feel that the other two shouldn't be in both competitions. However, Belmont Shore and OMBAC believe that they're entitled to play in First Division because they, like everyone else, pay their CIPP dues.