Morrinsville grind out win over Marist
29th May 2011 01:45PM
By Hamish Forsman
Hamilton Marist suffered yet another narrow defeat after Morrinsville Sports hung on for a well earned 16-10 win at Marist Park.
Both teams struggled for momentum in the muddy conditions and the game turned into a kicking duel, but Morrinsville’s dominance in the forwards and at set pieces proved to be the difference between the sides.
Morrinsville got off to a quick start and crossed the Marist line after just five minutes through loose forward Brett Harrison. First-five Brooke Tremayne converted.
Tremayne and Marist first-five Trent Renata then traded penalties mid way through the first half as the visitors went into the break with a 10-3 lead.
Marist started the second half more positively but Morrinsville were able to shut them down, until a Marist intercept led to a Renata try under the posts which tied the scores with half an hour remaining.
Morrinsville began to grind Marist down and on the back of some good territory they opened up a six point lead from two Tremayne penalties.
Marist was then forced to chase the game which was never going to be easy in the conditions and a number of errors in the last quarter prevented any chance of a comeback.
The impressive performance from the Morrinsville forward pack was led by No 8 Alex Bradley, while Tremayne and fullback Benji Olesen used their kicking games to good effect.
Best of the Marist forwards was prop Loni Uhila, while fullback Joe Reynolds ran strongly all day.
Other premier division results:
Hamilton Old Boys 49 Melville 6
Fraser-Tech 27 Otorohanga 19
Hautapu 38 University 10
Te Rapa 29 Te Awamutu Sports 26
