Morrisville Sports' unbeaten
6th July 2010 07:42AM
By EVAN PEGDEN - Waikato Times
Morrinsville Sports continued their rich vein of form at the top of Waikato premier club rugby on Saturday while the yo-yo effect among the other semifinal contenders continued.
Wagon Wheel Bakery Morrinsville made it seven wins in a row and kept their unbeaten record intact for the Haswell Catley Trophy round with a 44-15 home victory over TDO Melville.
And CBD Hamilton Old Boys kept pace with Morrinsville – though still six points in arrears in second place – with an impressive 53-5 home win over APL Hautapu.
But the order behind those two changed again with Shenanigans Irish Pub Fraser-Tech and Lodge City Rentals Hamilton Marist leapfrogging Hautapu and Ecolab Te Awamutu Sports into the top four.
Tech scored a 30-18 win at home to OTC Otorohanga, while Marist won a tight battle at home to Te Awamutu 16-13.
Morrinsville Sports 44
Melville 15
This was another dominant performance at Campbell Park from the defending champions who battled to get into the top-eight main round.
Morrinsville scored six tries to none, leading 18-9 at halftime and getting four of those in the second half when they really opened things up.
Again the home team's loose forwards were outstanding, led by skipper and No8 Alex Bradley in his last match before Waikato representative commitments take over.
In the front row prop Mark Verner, in his 100th game for the club, and hooker Tom Rowling had strong games, while lock Duncan Leask also played well.
With Brendon Leonard sidelined with a groin problem after attending the New Zealand Sevens camp, Damon McKinnon played well at halfback, combining well with first five-eighth Andre Wilson, who had a 24-point "blinder" that included two tries.
Young winger Jone Lagibola also had a standout game for the winners, scoring a try and being named man of the match thanks to a high work rate, while Benji Olesen had another good game at fullback.
Melville, still struggling with injuries, relied on goal-kicker Jon Teruki-Chambers to provide all their points with five penalty goals.
Hamilton Old Boys 53
Hautapu 5
This was an outstanding performance from Old Boys, scoring nine tries to one at Fred Jones Park against a Hautapu team that failed to fire.
Old Boys started explosively, scoring two tries in the first 10 minutes before the game levelled out, the home side getting another two touchdowns to Hautapu's one during the rest of the half for a 22-5 half-time lead.
In the second half the home side blew Hautapu off the park, dominating the set-pieces by pinching lineout ball and putting the visiting scrum under pressure, reigning supreme at the breakdowns and also beating the visitors on the outside in one of the best club performances of the season.
Old Boys' captain and blind-side flanker Adam Cathcart had a storming game, halfback Malcolm Barnes and first-five Dean Devcich worked well together, while impressive winger Henry Speight, who like lock Marty Faville scored two tries, was always dangerous.
Fraser-Tech30
Otorohanga 18
Fraser-Tech led Otorohanga just 11-6 at halftime at Elliott Park after a dreary first spell of rugby, but both sides managed to provide better entertainment in the second spell as the home side battled to a bonus-point success, John Holt reports.
Neither team produced much in the way of quality rugby during the first half.
Both backlines played far too laterally and made little progress against flat defensive lines; too often aimless kicking seemed to be the only strategy for either side to advance forward.
Fraser-Tech right wing Glen Robertson scored the only try of the first half, after just seven minutes of play, a stunning effort from 40m out where he used his considerable pace and sheer strength to beat the Otorohanga defence cold.
First-five Sam Christie kicked his second penalty goal right on halftime to give Tech their narrow lead at the break.
Otorohanga's first-half points came from two Joe Perawiti penalty goals.
Fullback Thomas Watt, Robertson and left wing Navi Sikivou scored further tries for Fraser-Tech, in a brighter display of running rugby.
Otorohanga trailed on the scoreboard throughout the match but played with a lot more patience and skill in the latter half of the game.
Right wing Sekobi Senki and hard-working blind-side flanker Hayden Buckman scored tries for the visitors.
Hamilton Marist16
Te Awamutu Sports 13
This was a close battle all the way and victory could easily have been stolen towards the end at Marist Park by Te Awamutu, who dominated territory and possession in the second half.
Marist started on attack and prop Lionel Wairau scored their only try in the opening quarter for the home side to lead 10-3 at the changeover.
Leon Emery scored Te Awamutu's second-half try and the visitors went close another couple of times towards the end as they outscored the home side 10-6 for the spell.
Steven Setephano led from the front in a strong match at loose forward to earn his 50-game blazer for Marist while Frank Halai had some strong runs on the wing for Marist but was tightly marked by a strong defensive effort from the visitors.
Open-side flanker Cohen Masson was outstanding for Te Awamutu and worked well with blind-sider Jono Armstrong, while the visiting pack got stronger as the game went on.
RESULTS, STANDINGS
Waikato Senior A: Premier Division (Haswell Catley Trophy): Fraser-Tech 30 (Glen Robertson 2, Thomas Watt, Navi Sikivou tries; Sam Christie 2 cons, 2 pens) Otorohanga 18 (Sekobi Senki, Hayden Buckman tries; Joe Perawiti 2 pens, con). HT: 11-6. Hamilton Old Boys 53 (Henry Speight 2, Martyn Faville 2, Kane Adams, Malcolm Barnes, Troy Lobendahn, Keith Wolfsbauer, Toby Smith tries; Dean Devcich 3, Adams cons) Hautapu 5 (Romana Graham try). HT 22-5. Hamilton Marist 16 (Lionel Wairau try; Trent Renata con, 3 pens) Te Awamutu Sports 13 (Leon Emery try; Jordan Davies con, 2 pens). HT 10-3. Morrinsville Sports 44 (Andre Wilson 2, Vesi Rauluni 2, Benji Olesen, Jone Lagibola tries; Wilson 4 cons, 2 pens) Melville 15 (Jon Teruki-Chambers 5 pens). HT 18-9. Points W D L F A BP Pt Morrinsville 5 0 0 150 74 3 23 Hamilton OB 3 1 1 155 91 3 17 Fraser-Tech 3 0 2 152 97 3 15 Ham Marist 3 1 1 94 98 0 14 Hautapu 2 0 3 90 131 4 12 Te Awamutu 2 0 3 108 108 4 12 Melville 0 1 4 77 174 2 4 Otorohanga 0 1 4 78 131 0 2 (Bonus points awarded to teams losing by seven points or less and for scoring four tries or more): Promotion-Relegation Division (NZFP Trophy): Putaruru 13 Leamington 8, Taupiri 64 Hinuera 22, University 77 United Matamata Sports 17, Te Rapa 25 Southern United 18. First Division: Ohaupo 22 Matangi-Hillcrest 5, Kereone 21 Raglan 15, Pirongia 27 Frankton 10.
