Poneke, Petone Joint Leaders After Contrasting Wins

Petone and Poneke are the new joint leaders of the Swindale Shield. Round nine action, affected by windy conditions, saw Poneke rack up a 25-point first half lead with the gale and then hold off a Hutt Old Boys Marist comeback, and Petone overhaul a 10-point halftime deficit to score five unanswered tries and thrash Old Boys-University.

Poneke played with great heart to beat HOBM. After halfback Josh Lindsay and first five Steve McColl had helped them pile on the points with some pinpoint tactical kicking they showed fortitude to hold off the Hutt challenge in the second spell. HOBM closed the margin to within a converted try with twenty minutes still left on the clock, but gutsy Poneke defence held them out.

Meanwhile, Petone were far too strong for OBU in this week?s feature game at the Petone Recreation Ground. Playing with the wind in the first spell, OBU?s 15-5 lead at the break was never going to be enough, especially as their forwards were back-peddling from the outset. Despite the presence of Hurricanes lock Ross Kennedy, they struggled to compete with the bigger, more physical Petone pack and were cleaned out at scrumtime and in rucks and mauls. Aside from the wind, only over-confidence from Petone, causing plenty of mistakes, and a 9-3 penalty count in OBU?s favour, kept the students in the hunt.

OBU did score two great tries though. Promising first five Patrick Maguire scored the first in the corner after a sustained build-up and set up the second, waltzing through a hole from an attacking scrum and putting wing Vince Curtin in under the bar. This was answered by a counterattacking try to Petone, started and finished by blindside Daniel Farani.

First five Riki Flutey set Petone alight in the second spell, his kicking and running game equally dynamic in creating his side?s second half momentum. Flutey?s left boot combined with the northwesterly and instigated the scoring spree. An 80-metre touchfinder soon resulted in a pushover try to No.8 Martin Leslie, which Flutey also converted from out wide. A try straightaway to centre Joe Collins, in his 100th game for Petone, was then followed by one to Flutey, after he pounced on an OBU breakdown in midfield and ran 60 metres to score. That made it 27-15 and the game was won. Further tries to Farani, his second, and wing Willie Moala cemented an impressive Petone win.

In other games Northern United went down in a shock four tries to one loss to perennial underachievers Western Suburbs. With it Norths? title defence looks to have slipped away as they are now six points off the pace. Avalon climbed to fourth with a timely win over Marist St. Pats in a continuation of their rollercoaster season. Elsewhere Tawa and Upper Hutt both enjoyed easy wins over strugglers Johnsonville and Oriental-Rongotai respectively. The race for the top eight is still as open as at the top. With some crucial match-ups in the final two rounds, Tawa, OBU, Upper Hutt and Wests could still find themselves scrambling for Jubilee Cup berths