All smiles at Gladdy

A stellar second half saw Gladstone beat arch rivals Greytown 25-20 in Moose Kapene Cup premier club rugby action this afternoon.

It was a second half performance worthy of the occasion as Gladstone not only won back the Nunn Shield, but also paid their coach Steve Thompson the ultimate tribute.
A stalwart of the country club for more than 40-years, Thompson’s name now takes pride of place at the entry to the number one field, the Steve Thompson Domain. An official unveiling was held earlier in the day.

If ever their was a game not to lose, today was it for Gladstone. But by half time, winning seemed unlikely. Not only were they trailing by seven-points, they also appeared to be just hanging on.

Whatever was said at the break it clearly had the effect, and with the injection of fresh legs early in the half, Gladstone wrestled back control and were deserving winners.
Greytown set the tempo in the opening stanzas dominating possession and territory. The son-father combination of Raniera Petersen and Kingi Kaiwai at first-five-eight and second five-eighth found plenty of holes in the Gladdy defences. After an early penalty, Greytown then scored their first try when winger AJ Manly dived over in the corner finishing off a good period of play for the visitors.

Loose forward Bryn Henderson got one back for the home team but it was all Greytown for most of the half. When captain and No.8 Tavita Isaac broke off the back of the scrum and went in under the posts without a hand laid on him, the signs were ominous.

A penalty from Brad Griffiths, from a tricky position, on the stroke of half-time gave Gladstone a little be of confidence going into the break.

More focus, and less niggle, had Gladstone on the front foot in the second half. Replacement hooker Richard Puddy and winger Matthew Macrae also had a big impact. Puddy lifted the urgency upfront and it was here that Gladstone started to dominate Greytown.

While there was some controversy around their open-side flanker Scott Harpham’s try, it was good reward for a long period of pressure. Griffiths’ sideline conversion levelled the scores and then moments later Gladstone were in front. Handed the ball at the end of the line Macrae was left with a huge amount to do, cutting back inside and busting off several tackles to score.

Another penalty put the home team further ahead, but Greytown were here to play and from inside their own 22-metre launched a counter-attack ending with Manly scoring his second try of the match, in the corner.

In other matches, Pioneer beat Marist 30-13, Eketahuna chalked up their first win downing East Coast 41-22 while Carterton continued Martinborough’s misery winning 37-22