Martinborough too good for Marist
MARIST 14 MARTINBOROUGH 35
Martinborough coach James Bruce was happy after his team’s dominant five try to two victory away to Marist in the first round of the Lane Penn Cup.
“It was alright for a first game, but we bombed a few tries just through not using the top two inches and catching the ball,” Bruce said.
“We won but we should have done better than that.”
Marist held the early ascendancy when winger Alatise Siaosi scored after five minutes. But Martinborough then took control running in three tries, the highlight a brilliant chip and re-gather from centre Harry Eschenbach.
A try under the posts to Marist second-five Willie Mataitai closed the gap to 21-14 at halftime.
The only scoring in the second half were two converted tries to Martinborough. Marist paid for poor discipline playing 10 minutes with only 13 players after lock Matt Masoe (high shot) and hooker Sam Siaosi (dissent) were sin-binned. Siaosi was then sent off with time up after further dissent.
EKETAHUNA 17 EAST COAST 20
East Coast scored three tries to two in a “typical first game” at Eketahuna.
The Coasties led 13-10 at halftime and extended their lead to 20-10 only for the home side to score “with about 10 to play and make it a bit interesting”, said visiting coach Guy Williams.
“We played to our plan and kept it tighter but as soon as we loosened up it played into Eke’s hands and their Fijians, and some of them are pretty good.”
Just getting a team on the field was a success for Eketahuna, who had struggled for numbers in the lead-up.
“We had 16 Fijians turn up on Thursday night so there was a lack of structure but we fronted and we’re happy. It was a game that either team could’ve won,” Eketahuna coach Anthony Rowdy said.
GREYTOWN 53 MASTERTON RED STAR 12
Greytown coach Peter Russell was satisfied with their convincing win over a combative Masterton Red Star Rams at Greytown.
“We left a lot out there, and it was a funny game really,” Russell said.
“We dominated in a few large patches but didn’t put the points on the board, which was frustrating.”
The loose forward trio of Chris Dixon, Setty Sammons, and Rongo Huiriana, second-five Hayden Schrijvers, and winger Kallum Pike in his premier debut stood out for Russell.
He was also impressed with aspects of the Rams, saying they were “a very physical side especially around the fringes and we had to make some pretty desperate tackles”.
CARTERTON 43 PIONEER 38
Any old score looked on the cards at halftime at Carterton, with the home side leading 36-28 after 10 tries were scored in an entertaining 40 minutes.
The second stanza was a tighter affair with each team managing only one try apiece.
Despite being on the wrong end of the scoreline, Pioneer coach Victor Thompson was “quite pleased with where we’re sitting”.
“It was a good spectacle. It was a little bit stop start but you couldn’t expect anything else from both teams having their first hit-outs,” he said.
