Johnsonville Hit Hardham Cup Trouble As Avalon Find Their Form

A Welcome return to form by Avalon and a second loss for Johnsonville marked the second round of Hardham Cup play. While Avalon bounced back from a first-up loss to Oriental-Rongotai to beat neighbours Upper Hutt 34-17 Johnsonville were defeated 14-6 at home by Wainuiomata.

With the services of champion No. 8 Thomas Waldrom back from a two month injury layoff, Avalon recovered from an early 70 metre intercept try to Upper Hutt left wing Shannon Nightingale to overcome Upper Hutt five tries to three at Maidstone Park. Second five-eighth Katoni Katoa started the comeback with a converted try in his 100^th premier game and from there Avalon hit top gear.

The first round Harper Lock Shield is a fast fading memory for Johnsonville, Wainuiomata holding them off at Helston Park for their first win of the second round.? Wainui established an 11-0 lead after 25 minutes and then defended stoutly throughout the second half as Johnsonville could only manage two Cory Burt penalties in reply. Johnsonville are now in a virtual must win situation against Avalon, Ories and Upper Hutt to regain their Swindale Shield status next year.

In other matches, Oriental Rongotai defeated Marist St. Pat's 49-9 at Evans Bay Park, and Northern United brought Poneke back down to earth following last week's shock win over Johnsonville, beating the Red and Blacks 25-8.

Ories were too powerful for MSP in this week's Club Weekly feature match. But despite the blowout score Ories didn't have it all their way, battling hard against the spirited MSP side throughout much of the first half.

Playing into the wind, MSP restricted their Miramar visitors to 9-9 until Ories crossed for their first try on halftime to break the shackles. MSP defended well in the first half against a stronger scrum and lineout, the two teams trading penalties for the first half an hour of play.

Ories too often let themselves down with unforced errors and a lack of concentration that prevented them from getting on top. The frequent whistle blowing of Japanese referee Manoru Fujiwara, resplendent in yellow, also contributed to a stop-start first half.?

But the visiting teams set piece advantage eventually prevailed, centre Samson Nonu scything through to score before the break from a steady attacking scrum, after previously turning down a shot at goal from a handy position.

MSP briefly threatened after the interval, but a tap penalty instead of a shot of goal back fired when Ories turned the ball over and counterattacked 80 metres up field. Ories were then awarded another scrum in good position, No. 8 Henry Ma'alo surged off the back and freed up the backs to run in Nonu for his second try off the second phase.

The conversion to first five-eighth Karl Harding made it 23-9, and from there the floodgates opened with another three tries in quick sucession to right wing Steve Tavoi, and to standout players, replacement lock Mark Reddish and hooker Lui Aukuso.

MSP came back strongly over the last quarter of play, but organised Ories defence and the hunger for more points kept them out. Instead it was Ories who scored again on fulltime, Ma'alo crossing to complete a well deserved win.

The 40 unanswered points scored by Ories at almost a point a minute was a fair reflection of the standard of the two teams, Ories proving that if they can eliminate the mistakes from their game that plagued them throughout the Swindale Shield they will be contenders at the business end of the season.

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