Ories down Poneke to stay in Jubilee Cup top four reckoning

A late converted try to openside flanker Paul Halafihi carried Oriental-Rongtotai to a sensational 20-16 win over Poneke to kept their Jubilee Cup semi-final chances alive in the fifth round set of matches played on Saturday.

Halafihi's match winner at Kilbirnie Park clinched a vital win for Ories after the home side had seemingly got up to steal victory through the boot of first five-eighth James Pointon who kicked his third penalty to put Poneke in front 16-13 after fighting back from a 13-0 deficit at halftime.

Consequently Ories remain firmly in playoff reckoning, while this result also served to tighten up the points table, with four teams separated on the log by the margin of a bonus point win and all? teams except for OBU?still mathematically alive for the final four.

In the round's other results, Petone defeated Hutt Old Boys Marist 25-0 in the big wet at the Hutt Recreation Ground, Northern United bounced back from successive losses to beat Old Boys-University 45-0 at Porirua Park and Marist St. Pats' majestic season continued, accounting for Upper Hutt 34-0 at Evans Bay Park.

MSP's win keeps them out in front on the points table and with an eleven point buffer to fourth placed Poneke makes them the first team to officially qualify for the semi-finals.

At the other end of the table, HOBM with one win can still plausibly make the knockout weekend if they win their last two matches and other results go their way.

At Kilbirnie Park, Ories lock Mark Reddish scored early off a Poneke lineout mistake and right wing Fa'avae Tumai pulled in a spectacular weighted cross kick by exciting young first five-eighth James Pointon as Ories went to a two tries to nil lead at halftime.

But with the wind behind them, Poneke clawed their way back into the match and scored through fullback Marika Kau. Pointon converted and added two penalties to even the scores up to 13-all with the clock winding down. Pointon almost broke Ories' hearts when his next kick put the red and blacks in the lead for the first time but Halafihi's clincher gave them a three tries to one win.

Across the road, a depleted MSP encountered few problems in accounting for Upper Hutt by a margin of five tries to nil. Missing several frontline players, including their Lions players and star flyhalf Fa'atonu Fili, MSP's depth was tested but passed with flying colours.

No. 8 Seina Mekaio had a strong game for the MSP ‘B's last week in the Hardham Cup and scored two tries in this game, while backs Dan Kauraka, Jackson Martin and Brendan Watt also crossed for MSP.

Northern United rarely lose three games in a row, particularly at home, as Old Boys-University quickly discovered in their encounter at Porirua Park. Playing with the wind, Norths steadily accumulated points and went to a 30-0 lead at halftime on the coattails of tries of their back three Francis Seumanutafa, Daley Harper and Sinoti To'omaga.

Norths added three more unconverted tries after the break, with in-form blindside flanker Sene Ta'ala collecting a brace. To'omaga's try was his sixth in the Jubilee Cup round and his 17th of the season.

Meanwhile Petone confirmed themselves as serious contenders for this year's Jubilee Cup with a well-taken three tries to nil win over HOBM under ashen skies and the wettest underfoot conditions of the season so far.

With large areas of both the Hutt Rec surrounds and the playing surface under water, ball retention and accuracy was always going to be at a premium. Unfortunately for the home side's supporters it was their team that made by far the most mistakes of the two despite making much of the play.

In contrast, Petone had fewer chances but put most of their opportunities away for points and they defended superbly throughout. Led by hooker Eugene Smith in his 100th Premier game for the Villagers and teenaged openside flanker Mateaki Kafatolu, who also?scored a brilliant solo try, Petone's pack consistently kept their opposites in check.

Another crucial factor was the defence of Petone's outside backs, with fullback Sam O'Leary and centre Lotu Filemu both stopping several breaks short of the line or in the puddle that formed in the left hand corner and proved a major hindrance to the attacking team.

Kafatolu scored his try by bursting through the advantage line from broken play on his side of halfway and out sprinting the chasing HOBM defence, this also proving the clincher that took Petone to an unbeatable 25-0 lead.

Earlier, Rasch had set up the first try in just the third minute of play, stabbing a well-weighted kick through for veteran wing Willie Moala to collect and slide through and score in the right hand corner.

A mistake in clearing the ball at the back led to a 5-metre scrum and a Rasch penalty, followed soon after by a Rasch pop pass up to the flying Filemu motoring through HOBM's 22 and offloading for second five-eighth August Collins for their second try.

With the wind at their backs after halftime HOBM now spent long periods on attack in the 20 minutes but were unable to cash in, instead Petone breaking out and earning a penalty for Rasch to kick. This was followed by Kafatolu's try to send Petone sailing home for a well-deserved win and HOBM stranded near the foot of the table and needing to win their last two games and win them well.

Another highlight of this match were several of individual battles, such as those in the loose forwards between opensides Kafatolu and?Jason Risdon and No. 8s Shaun Mahoney for Petone and Ash Parker for HOBM and halfbacks, Petone's Cam Incledon and HOBM's Nick Risdon. When he took the field in the second half, HOBM reserve hooker Steve Silva reached 100 Premier appearances.

Meanwhile in Hardham Cup action, Tawa sailed to their fifth straight win of their campaign in defeating Avalon 22-0 at home at Lyndhurst Park.

Tawa's three tries were all scored through the forwards, with prop David Fa'atafa, blindside flanker Afa Logoave and No. 8 Iona Fuatai all finding the whitewash to send Tawa to an eight-point win at the top of the table.

However, the Hardham Cup is really heating up below Tawa now, with the next six teams all within three points of each other and chasing the remaining three spots up for grabs over the coming fortnight.

Leading the charge is the Marist St. Pat's B team in joint second with Wainuiomata despite losing narrowly to the Wests Roosters on Saturday, while seventh placed Johnsonville cannot be discounted yet after earning their first victory of the second round against Rimutaka.

In other Hardham Cup results from the weekend, the Wests Roosters beat MSP B 10-7 at Ian Galloway Park, Wainuiomata pipped Northern United B 10-5 at William Jones Park and Johnsonville beat Rimutaka 15-9 at Helston Park.

The Johnsonville Women's team were also upset in the semi-finals of the Victoria Tavern Women's Premier grade second round competition, going down to Old Boys-University 11-10 at Helston Park. The other semi-final was just as close, with Northern United pipping Stokes Valley 15-14 at Porirua Park, meaning Norths will host OBU in next week's final at Porirua Park.

Old Boys-University continue to lead the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup by a point to Stokes Valley after defeating Wellington 32-0 and Paremata-Plimmerton beat the Wests Roosters 8-5 to hold the lead in the Senior 2?HD Morgan Memorial Trophy that sees the top six teams out of 10 in that grade separated by just six points.

The Club Weekly wishes to express its sincere condolences to the family and friends of slain police officer Derek Wootton, tragically killed on Friday in a police car chase, a keen Northern United fan and supporter of rugby in Wellington.