Norths Flex Muscle In Second Half Blitz

It was a keenly contested first round of the 2005 Swindale Shield on Saturday. Three of the six games went down to the wire, while the other three were all enthusing encounters. Week one results were enough to suggest that Wellington club rugby fans are in for a ripper of a season.

Northern United, Marist St. Pats, Upper Hutt and Oriental-Rongotai all opened with bonus point wins. Norths staged an ardent comeback to beat Hutt Old Boys Marist, MSP overpowered Poneke, Upper Hutt just pipped defending Swindale Shield champions Petone, while Ories were too strong for Old Boys-University.

Elsewhere, Western Suburbs and Johnsonville beat Avalon and Tawa respectively in nail biting contests without earning try scoring bonus points to register first up wins.

In round one?s feature game defending Jubilee Cup champions Norths turned a muddling first half performance into a resounding victory over HOBM at the Hutt Recreation ground. Norths turned a 20-0 halftime deficit into an audacious 38-25 win.

HOBM deserved to lead by three unanswered tries at the break, with an organised attack and committed defence. Tries to blindside Michael Hoffman (8th minute), halfback Nick Risdon (20th) and left wing Hosea Gear (36th) were all well taken. Hoffman collected a clever chip and chase from second five Alexis Time, Risdon completed a 50-metre counterattack, while Gear showed his class on the end of a backline move to score effortlessly.

Despite ample possession and territory, Norths were ordinary in the first half, making numerous handling errors and lacking any cohesion. However it was a completely different story in the second spell as they blitzed the home side with a 30-point barrage in 25 minutes. 20-0 became 20-10 after 45 minutes, 20-20 after 57 minutes and 30-20 after 65 minutes and HOBM were on the ropes.

In this period Norths scored tries to first five Rob Aloe, No. 8 Junior Maligi, and centre Patolo Patelesio. Left wing Peato Lafaele kicked all three conversions and two penalties, while Aloe helped himself to a dropped goal.

HOBM came back and scored a fourth bonus point try through right wing Jonathan Manu to close the gap to within 5 points, but a second try to Aloe and a third penalty to Lafaele sealed the win.

Aloe, with two tries was the star for Norths, while centre Patelesio was impressive, as were loosies Maligi and Jacob Ellison. For HOBM rookie first five Jonathon Bentley impressed early on, Risdon was tireless, while Gear was dangerous on the flanks.

In the rounds other big game MSP led Poneke from start to finish in an inspiring first up win. In an even battle up front the highlight was a 100-metre counterattacking try scored by MSP wing Dan Stemp.

While wing Roy Kinikinilau helped himself to two-second half tries in Ories? comprehensive 20-point victory over OBU, the other three games were much closer. Johnsonville played effective 10-man rugby to beat Tawa in their local derby, Upper Hutt narrowly beat Petone in a seesaw battle; while Wests held on to topple a fast-finishing Avalon.

Steven White.



2005 Swindale Shield POINTS scorers

Riki Flutey (Petone) 17
Peato Lafaele (Norths) 14
Scott Leighton (Wests) 14
Rob Aloe (Norths) 13
Fa'atonu Fili (MSP) 10
Shaun O'Conner (Poneke) 10
Cory Aporo (Upper Hutt) 10
Roy Kinikinilau (Ories) 10
Gene Johnston (Tawa) 9
Patrick Maguire (OBU) 9
Mau Lolo (Ories) 9
Cameron Cross (Avalon) 9



2005 Swindale Shield TRY Scorers

Roy Kinikinilau (Ories) 2

Shaun O'Conner (Poneke) 2
Dan Stemp (MSP) 1
Wille Moala (Petone) 1
Tristian Meo (Wests) 1
Hosea Gear (HOBM) 1
Patolo Patelesio (Norths)
Fraser Tane (Upper Hutt) 1
Hirini Robin (Tawa) 1
JP Tocker (MSP) 1
Toby Robson (Wests) 1