Poneke versus Ories key match in big ninth round

It's an all eastern suburbs affair at Kilbirnie Park this Saturday, where home side Poneke hosts Oriental-Rongotai for the Jim Grbich Memorial Shield and the Bill Brien Cup in a possible first round title-deciding clash.

Both of these sides are part of a group of five teams clustered together at the top of the table and separated by just five points, so whoever comes out on top at Kilbirnie Park could be holding the Swindale Shield aloft two weeks later.

The battle for first round supremacy is suddenly all on following last weekend's thrilling eighth round set of matches, highlighted by Upper Hutt's 22-19 upset win over previously unbeaten Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist's? 25-23 toppling of in-form Ories, as well as Tawa and Wainuiomata's 20-20 draw which added fuel to the battle for the top eight. The competition enters this weekend's ninth round set of matches with five teams still in contention and seven still in the mix, from joint leaders Petone and Poneke on 33 points down to joint sixth placed Marist St. Pat's and Tawa both on 24 points.

Despite slipping to their second loss of the season last week to HOBM, Ories cab still eye their first Swindale Shield title if they can beat Poneke and then Tawa at home and Petone away in the final two weeks. To inspire them to beat their near-neighbours on Saturday, Ories need look no further to this corresponding clash last year when their 24-14 win cemented their place inside the top eight for the Jubilee Cup for the first time in five years.

In overcoming Poneke in round nine of 2008, Ories had their fifth win of the season and moved ten points clear of the Hardham Cup zone, meaning they were Jubilee Cup-bound for the first time since 2003. The corresponding loss for Poneke kept their season in the balance and they only just snuck into the top eight.

Poneke went on to make the Jubilee Cup semi-finals and Ories ended the season in sixth place, but not before they managed to beat their red and black rivals again later in the season, 20-16, at Kilbirnie Park. In fact, both Ories and Poneke shared three wins apiece in last year's Cup round robin, but extra bonus points saw Poneke grab fourth place.

These two teams will also be playing for both the Bill Brien Cup and the Jim Grbich Memorial Shield, after the former Poneke player and seven-year Wellington and three-year Maori representative who died in a car accident in 1962. Together with Moray Bevan, Grbich formed a lethal combination in the midfield for Poneke, Wellington and New Zealand Maori. The Grbich shield was presented by N. Gardiner (a long time member of the Oriental club) who was also a good friend of the Grbich family and was first played for in 1964.

Ories' win over Poneke this time last year to recapture the Jim Grbirch Memorial Shield was also their first over them in several seasons, following previous first round wins for Poneke in 2007 (48-0), 2006 (34-10), 2005 (22-10), 2004 (19-8), 2003 (33-24) and 2002 (19-15) .

The winner of this will also win the unofficial ‘city slam'? - wins over all the other Wellington city-based Premier clubs in a single Swindale Shield season, this group at the moment also comprising MSP, Old Boys-University and the Wests Roosters.? This is a rare achievement, although both Poneke and MSP came close in 2007 and 2008 respectively but were both held to draws when they came up against OBU.

Another big top of the table clash in round nine sees HOBM travel to Porirua Park to tackle Northern United, where the winner will again have the chance to press on and win the first round title.

In another hotly contested head-to-head match-up, this will be the sixth clash between Northern United and HOBM since the first round of 2007, with Norths having won three and HOBM two of these. Norths won both these encounters last year (28-22 and 26-11), but HOBM won two of their three clashes in 2007 including two wins from two at Porirua. In the 2007 Swindale Shield round, HOBM edged out the first round champions 19-17 and then backed that up in the Jubilee Cup semi-final winning 15-5 en route to their famous Cup win.

At Lyndhurst Park, Petone can immediately get their campaign back on track with a win over Tawa who themselves will be eager for points to stay in the top eight. Tawa, seven points behind sixth placed MSP and Upper Hutt and six points clear of ninth placed Wests Roosters, will remain in eighth at the end of the this weekend no matter what happens.

Tawa can point to recent success against Petone, although Petone won this match 45-0 last year. But in 2007 they held them to a 21-21 draw after leading 13-0 early and previously stunned them 46-21 in 2006, running in eight tries to two in a superb running rugby display.

In other matches this weekend, Upper Hutt host Wests at Maidstone Park, Old Boys-University and Wainuiomata meet at the Basin Reserve and MSP and Avalon square off at Evans Bay Park for the Joe Aspell Cup.

The Joe Aspell Cup was awarded by the late Joe Aspell for competition between the Marist and Taita clubs when Joe was the licensee of the Taita Hotel.?He played for Marist in the 1940s and was later a President and Life Member of that club.?He was the licensee of several hotels in the Wellington area, a Wellington City Councillor and a notable benefactor of many charitable causes. As a result of amalgamations the trophy is now contested between MSP and Avalon.?

MSP will have the chance to wrap up another trophy this week, although they will have to wait another fortnight to collect it. This is the Senior One Harper Lock Shield, which they will win with the final two rounds to spare if they can defeat third placed Rimutaka at Evans Bay Park.

Should they lose to MSP, Hardham Cup hopefuls Rimutaka can still remain in the top four heading into the final fortnight of the Harper Lock Shield if fourth placed Johnsonville can overcome fifth placed Petone at Helston Park and second placed Poneke can beat sixth placed Oriental-Rongotai at Kilbirnie Park.

It's a lot closer for the honours in the Senior Two first round National Mutual Cup, with seven points separating the leading five sides with three weeks to play.

MSP, who hold a two-point lead to second placed Norths, can consolidate their place at the top of the standings if they overcome ninth placed Avalon at Cobham Park. The big clash of the round in this grade is between Norths and third placed HOBM at Porirua Park.

Elsewhere, fourth placed Poneke hosts 11^th placed Wellington for the Ray "Spud" Lindsay Memorial Shield. During the 1930s Lindsay played for Poneke's lower grade teams. In the 1940s he played for their senior side. For three years he was on the management committee as well as well as a player. Once he stopped playing he remained on the management committee for eight more years and also coached lower grade sides.

In 1956 he was appointed joint coach of the senior side after Vic Calcanai retired but in August 1958 Vic Calcanai replaced him, as the club's management was concerned about being relegated. After this, Ray Lindsay joined the Wellington club where he was involved until he died in 1973. The Lindsay family donated this trophy the year he died.

Meanwhile, frontrunners Johnsonville and Norths square off at Alex Moore Park in a likely title deciding clash for the first round Women's Premier Fleurs Trophy. These two teams are both unbeaten, with Norths one point ahead of Johnsonville courtesy of an extra bonus point. They both have near identical attacking records this year, Norths having scored 347 points and Johnsonville 350. Defensively, Johnsonville have conceded 70 points while Norths have let in just 10 points in their seven games to date.

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?