Te Awamutu deserve upset victory
3rd May 2010 03:27PM
By EVAN PEGDEN - Waikato Times
Ecolab Te Awamutu Sports produced their best performance of the season with a 30-25 win over second-placed Shenanigans Fraser-Tech at Te Awamutu on Saturday to jump into the top eight after seven weeks of the Ron Crawford Memorial Trophy preliminary round.
Despite their second loss, Fraser-Tech still retain second place behind unbeaten Hamilton Old Boys thanks to an impressive seven bonus points, having picked up two more at Te Awamutu.
CBD Old Boys blew APL Hautapu away in the first half of their match at Cambridge to win 26-15, leaving Hautapu sharing the bottom rung of the top eight with Te Awamutu.
OTC Otorohanga continued their rise up the ladder with their 67-10 runaway win at home to Reid and Harrison United Matamata Sports, their fourth on the trot and leaving them in a share of third with TDO Melville, who held out Taupiri Tavern Taupiri 22-17 in Hamilton for their sixth win in seven games, only their lack of bonus points holding them back from a higher position on the table.
Hamilton Marist brought University back to earth with a thud after last week's upset of Te Rapa, winning 51-15 at home. It was their fourth win and combined with their seven bonus points consolidates their position in the top eight.
Seafood Bazaar Te Rapa had some pressure on them at home on Saturday after two consecutive losses but they responded impressively to produce a strong second-half effort to beat reigning champions Wagon Wheel Morrinsville Sports 27-15, pushing Morrinsville out of the top eight.
Te Rapa27
Morrinsville Sports15
Still struggling with injuries to key players, Morrinsville dominated the first half at St Andrews Park but only came away with a 10-10 deadlock thanks to poor finishing and a late 70-metre intercept try to young Te Rapa centre Chauncey Edwardson.
Te Rapa lifted their intensity in the second half, evening up the possession count and having the benefit of a stiffening breeze swinging from cross field to downfield, and the visitors failed to go with them.
Throw in the deadly boot of young Te Rapa first-five Nathan George, who had another accomplished all-round game and nailed all five of his penalty attempts, including four in the second spell, and the home side certainly deserved the victory.
Their defence and aggression at the breakdowns shut down what became a one-dimensional Morrinsville attack that relied too heavily on the powerful running of No 8 Alex Bradley.
George kicked Te Rapa into a 19-10 lead in the opening 15 minutes of the second half and while replacement prop Colin Vette got Morrinsville's second try from some strong forward attack to close the gap to 19-15 in the 28th minute, goal-kicker Brook Tremayne failed to fire and in the end a George penalty and a pick-and-go try to prop Sione Mateaki in the corner shut out the visitors of even a bonus point in the last four minutes.
Te Awamutu Sports30
Fraser-Tech25
A hard-working, strong Te Awamutu forward pack, well marshalled by standout halfback Luke Parsons, upped the ante for this game and led the way for a much-needed victory at Albert Park.
It was four tries each and there was some controversy at the end with a Tech try disallowed but the home side deserved this result for the effort they put in.
With an all-round team effort Te Awamutu led 24-13 at halftime, ex-Wellington lock Chris Middleton impressing in his second game back from injury and try-scoring flanker Jono Armstrong leading a strong forward effort.
Tech fought back after the break with Vern Kamo, who scored a 30m try, Peniasi Iowane and Dominiko Waqaniburotu leading the way in the forwards and centre Tyron Child the best of the backs, but the home pack hung in until the end for victory, helped by Waylon Tangohau's slightly better goal-kicking in the windy conditions.
Hamilton Old Boys26
Hautapu15
Old Boys raced away to a 23-3 lead in the first half with the aid of the stiff breeze at Memorial Park but lost their composure and their way in the second as the home side came back stronger.
It took good defence from the visitors to prevent Hautapu doing better than their 12-3 second-half advantage – with two tries by speedy winger Ruamai Erueti – as Old Boys spent much of the half stuck in their own territory.
Murray Iti shone at open-side flanker for Old Boys and scored an impressive try and halfback Malcolm Barnes led the winners well in the first stanza, while the visiting pack stood up well to a Hautapu eight that included the likes of Jordan Smiler and Romana Graham.
Otorohanga67
Utd Matamata Sports10
Fullback James Hemara's three tries and four conversions were the individual highlight of this one-sided fixture at Island Reserve, with most of the scoring done in the second spell.
UMS competed well in the first half, coming out firing from the kickoff and making it hard for the home side to settle into their pattern with Otorohanga only leading 15-10 at the break.
The home side got their team game going in the second half after individuals had suffered from white-line fever in the first and Otorohanga ran away with it, halfback Ben Needham making a big difference when he came on at halfback for the second half.
Fullback Raymond Tuhakaraina scored all Matamata's points, while No 8 Luke Gillett was player of the day and midfielder Jamie McIntyre also played well for the visitors but inferior fitness eventually cost UMS.
Melville22
Taupiri17
Taupiri opened and closed this match at Collins Rd with tries, the first an intercept by Sam Fletcher, and competed strongly up front, particularly at the breakdowns.
But while the visitors were effective with their pick-and-go game and kicked astutely to the corners in one of their best efforts of the year, Melville took control with a penalty goal and two tries just before halftime to lead 17-10 and then dominated the third quarter despite struggling to score points.
Apart from that it was an evenly contested match with both sides having their good patches.
For Melville flanker, Sam Chambers was something of a lone ranger in the pack, while fullback Logan Fisher was outstanding with his all-round game and a 12-point contribution.
Hamilton Marist51
University15
Hamilton Marist had too much finesse to their play compared to their University opponents and were easy winners at Marist Park, scoring all their points in the backline.
Both teams endeavoured to play expansive rugby from the start but Marist managed to convert their scoring opportunities better and led 10-0 after just seven minutes and were well ahead, 22-5, at halftime, following two tries to fullback Jono Malo, and a third to big winger Frank Halai.
Second five-eighth Joseph Murray scored University's sole first-half points but the visitors managed to close the lead to 22-15 early in the second spell following a try to centre Arnold Meredith and a conversion and penalty goal to fullback Josh Sutcliffe.
But Marist then ran away with the match. Five further tries to Halai, second-five Phil Mourits, centre Royce Teinakore, replacement wing Rakutia Vakalalabure and Malo, two of the tries converted, took the winning side past a half century of points.
Behind a dominant forward pack, halfback Josh Sutherland had an inspired game for Marist, while the exciting Halai was narrowly the pick of the winning side's pacey backline.
