Upper Hutt Lift Swindale Shield, But Miss Out On Unbeaten Record

Round 11 Review Despite losing their last round encounter with Marist St. Pats, Upper Hutt held the Swindale Shield aloft over Maidstone Park on Saturday. Elsewhere, both Tawa and Johnsonville had to win against Northern United and Avalon respectively, and hope the other stumbled, to make the Jubilee Cup round - they both did, meaning Tawa held on to finish eighth. Tawa and Johnsonville both played expansive rugby and both scored four-try bonus points as well. In other games Petone and Western Suburbs warmed up for the Jubilee Cup, with Petone running in six tries to one for an easy victory. Poneke also had a stroll in the park against Old Boys-University, with halfback Brad Faulkner crossing for a hat trick, and Hutt Old Boys Marist overcame a disappointing Oriental-Rongotai.

The Club Weekly was at Maidstone Park to see newly crowned champions Upper Hutt officially take possession of this year?s Shield and to see if they could achieve a rare first round unbeaten record. In the end they couldn?t, their opponents MSP snuck past them by a solitary point, which temporarily set back the celebrations. MSP also won the Rose and Crown Cup off Upper Hutt, but it was Mark Purdy?s men in maroon and gold who still won the day amidst a congratulatory atmosphere.

In fact Upper Hutt nearly did steal what would have been an unlikely victory over MSP, who played with more cohesion and commitment than the home team, and if MSP had the attacking strike power of other rival sides they would have won more convincingly. After an unspectacular first 15 minutes by both teams in which handling errors prevailed, MSP settled down and were by far the more willing outfit for most of the rest of the game. MSP?s forwards were more assured, particularly at ruck and maul time, and their midfield pairing of Toese Lealamanua and Joe Wright ran hard and were also strong on defence. Upper Hutt appeared languid and tried unsuccessfully to use their scrum as a focal point for their attack.

MSP scored two first half tries, and despite a buoyant period for 25 minutes in the second spell when they had enough possession and territory to pull away further, they then had to hold off a late revival by Upper Hutt to secure victory. Fullback JP Tocker opened the scoring in the 16th minute by finishing off a well-worked team try out wide, and hardworking No. 8 Ene Fa?atau crashed over from a rolling maul in the 30th. Upper Hutt first five-eighth Ben Aoina kept his side in touch with two penalties and it was 12-6 after 60 minutes.

A 70-metre counterattack kick-started an Upper Hutt revival and momentum swung their way. However, MSP were desperate to hold on to victory and were well led by captain and lock Matt Egan and hooker Ged Robinson. All Upper Hutt could manage was a try to halfback Daniel Beckett, who burrowed over after a series of pick-and-drives at the line. Aoina missed the conversion from 15 metres in and MSP won.

Final points standings saw Northern United finish in second six points behind Upper Hutt, with MSP overtaking Wests for third spot, and Petone, Poneke, Avalon and Tawa rounding out the top eight. Johnsonville were the best of the rest, with HOBM moving ahead of Ories to finish tenth, while OBU collect the wooden spoon and remain winless so far.

Steven White

Swindale Shield leading points scorers (final standings):

Scott Leighton (Wests) 131
Brad Cooper (Poneke) 118
Sam Rasch (MSP) 97
Cameron Cross (Avalon) 82
Corey Burt (Jville) 75
Riki Flutey (Petone) 74
Jonathon Bentley (HOBM) 63
Rob Aloe (Norths) 58
Ben Aoina (Upper Hutt) 58
Gene Johnston (Tawa) 58
Cory Aporo (Upper Hutt) 57
Willie Lafaele (Tawa) 52


Swindale Shield leading try scorers (final standings):


Evan Belford (Poneke) 7
Junior Togia (Tawa) 7
Willie Moala (Petone) 7
Siaosi Anamani (Norths) 6
Vila Apu'ula(Avalon) 6
Rob Aloe (Norths) 5
Brad Baker (Upper Hutt) 5
Tristan Meo (Wests) 5
Steve McColl (Poneke) 5
Patolo Patelesio (Norths) 5
Shaun O'Conner (Poneke) 4
Malakai Kisina (HOBM) 4