The two schools selected Dubbo as a neutral venue for the clash, and no doubt the Sydneysiders would be happy to return after they thrived in the conditions to run in seven tries before conceding one after the final siren had sounded.

Farrer had all the ball early in the contest but couldn't capitalise by putting points on the board.

After defending well The Hills went on to score three tries in the opening half to take a 17-0 lead into the break.

The second half started much the same way as the first, with Farrer good early but The Hills countering to pile on the tries.

Lightning fast winger Shaun Fitzgerald, who scored in the first half, bagged his double early in the second stanza before hooker Beau Ungounga booked a ticket out of the front-rowers club by stepping past two defenders to score near the posts.

Further tries to Tully Macpherson and Sean Walpole pushed the score out to 43-0 before Farrer finally cracked the Sydney school's defence with time expired.

Winger Joe Ferris darted over from behind a ruck contest to the cheers and delight of the Farrer fans that had travelled to watch the contest.

The Hills Sports High team manager Andrew Tetley said he was happy with the side's performance, particularly in defence.

"Early on we were under a fair bit of pressure but we really stood up well," Tetley said.

"We're thrilled with the result now, to be in the final four is great and we've really enjoyed our trip to Dubbo.

"The hospitality here has been great. We arrived yesterday (Tuesday) and came for a look at the ground and had a light training run on the back fields and the set-up here is world class.

"I'm pretty sure we'll now play the winner of Knox Grammar and St Augustine's in the semi-final. We played Knox in the pool games and beat them 60-19 but they were missing a lot of rep players that day so it should be a good contest if we do have to play them again."

Farrer coach Kylie Dawson praised her side's effort to make the quarter-finals, with yesterday's match their fifth in 10 days.

For so long renowned as being a rugby league school, Farrer has now made it to at least the quarter-final stage of the Waratah Shield for the past three years.

"We've actually got more rugby players at the school now than league so things have turned around a bit," Dawson said.

"These boys have done a super job though. They've had a lot of football over the past week or two and to make it this far is a big achievement.

"The Hills were just too big and too fast today, particularly out wide with their wingers who had a lot of speed and were able to make the most of that.

"Our group is a young side too, most of them are in year 11, so they'll be back next year to give it another crack."

o THE HILLS SPORTS HIGH SCHOOL 43 (Shaun Fitzgerald 2, Daniel Brown, Tully Macpherson, Beau Ungounga, Sean Walpole, Shane Kiel tries; Harry Rowe 3, Mitchell Korol convs) def FARRER AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL 5 (Joe Ferris try)