Tight at the top after epic fourth round

Another hotly contested round of Jubilee Cup matches, including a 23-23 draw between Northern United and Hutt Old Boys Marist, has created a logjam at the top of the points table after a month of round-robin rugby.

With just three weeks to play until the 2010 semi-finals, and with Vodafone Wellington Lions squad members unavailable for the last round, the race to the playoffs is all on.

The drawn result from an epic match at Porirua Park between home side Norths and HOBM, Poneke's determined 22-10 win over Oriental-Rongotai at the Polo Ground and Marist St. Pats' 24-19 win over Petone at Evans Bay Park sees MSP out in front on 14 points ahead of Norths, Poneke and HOBM who are all on 13.

In the other round four Jubilee Cup match, Upper Hutt pulled one out of the bag and mathematically kept their playoffs chances alive by trouncing Old Boys-University 48-11 at the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve.

A gap has now opened up on the points table between the leading four teams and the bottom four of Ories (8 points), Upper Hutt (7), Petone (6) and OBU (4), with the bottom trio of Upper Hutt, Petone and OBU who have just one win each from four games effectively playing knockout rugby from here on in.

There was drama in the Hardham Cup too, with a draw and a knife-edge finish characterising two of the four games.

At the neutral venue of Kelburn Park, Johnsonville scored a converted try at the death to snatch a 24-24 draw with Marist St. Pat's B, while at Lyndhurst Park, Wainuiomata kicked a late penalty to secure a 20-18 win over Tawa for their fourth straight win.

Elsewhere in the Hardham Cup, the Wests Roosters effectively ended Avalon's season and played their way into the semi-finals with their fourth straight victory, a 22-5 triumph at Fraser Park. At Porirua Park, HOBM upset the high flying Norths B side 22-17.

In Jubilee Cup action around the region that was played in cold but fine conditions, Norths made their usual flying start and scored two early tries to race to a 10-0 lead with tries to hooker Henry Smith and Toulon-based winger Sinoti To'omaga But the 2010 HOBM side are made of stern stuff and they came flying back to score two tries and lead 12-10 at halftime. These tries were scored by hooker Luke Gibb and prop Simon Malaeulu.

Norths pulled clear again after the interval, with returning winger To'oomaga slicing through off the shoulder of James So'oialo to score his second try and So'oialo kicking a penalty to give them a 20-12 advantage.

HOBM first five-eighth Dan Snee closed the deficit back up to 5 points, before So'oialo was sinbinned and in-form prop Malaeulu barged over for his second try to make it 20-20. So'oialo returned to the field and kicked Norths into the lead again.

But the Eagles had the better of the final frantic five minutes, hammering away inside the Norths 22 but simply unable to score. Finally, they were awarded a penalty at the end and Snee stepped up to kick the three points that secured a draw to both tie the result up and close up the Jubilee Cup points table.

At Evans Bay Park, Petone were desperate to beat Marist St. Pat's to stay in touch with the top half of the field, but couldn't prevent the boot of the home side's first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili kicking MSP to victory and into the competition lead.

Fili found his radar early, kicking his first four penalties to put MSP 12-3 ahead after half an hour. He then added a dropped goal before halftime and the scarlets turned with a 15-6 advantage. Fili and Petone fullback Ben Aoina traded further penalties after the interval as MSP inched ahead 21-12 before Petone broke the shackles with a try to second five Michael Lealava'a. Aoina converted the game's only try and suddenly the Villagers trailed by just two points.

But Fili had the last say when he stepped up to kick his seventh penalty of the afternoon to clinch a hard fought victory and leaving Petone now needing to beat OBU, Ories and Upper Hutt to have any shot at the semi-finals.

At the Basin Reserve, Upper Hutt unleashed their fast paced attack on an out of sorts OBU, to keep their top four dreams alive for at least another week when they host Poneke at Maidstone Park.

Upper Hutt were on top from the get-go, fullback Jason Woodward missing two early penalties before Vodafone Wellington Lions halfback Alby Mathewson sniped through for a seven-pointer to open the scoring.

OBU hit back through a pair of penalties to first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga, but Upper Hutt struck three more times to wrap up their bonus point and take a 26-6 into halftime. Further tries were scored by lock James Wall, flanker James Whiteman and replacement halfback Kayne Hammington - the New Zealand U20 scrumhalf on for an injured Mathewson.

Centre Brett Piggott put the result out of reach for the students when he scored Upper Hutt's fifth try after the interval and the try scoring procession continued. OBU fullback Beau Brown fittingly scored in his 50th Premier game, but Upper Hutt had the final say and Piggott crossed for his brace late in the contest.

At the Polo Grounds, Poneke grabbed their third straight victory of the round against Ories on the back of another strong second half performance that saw them reel in a 3-10 halftime deficit and finish on top 22-10.

The difference between the teams at halftime was a runaway converted try to Ories left wing Ambrose Curtis. But Ories should have been at least 10 points up if not for first five-eighth James Proctor failing to convert a straightforward penalty on halftime, and could have been as many 17 points up early in the second half when a now 14-man Poneke somehow kept a rampant Ories from scoring a second try.

Proctor missed his penalty in front with the final act of the first half that would have made it 13-3, moments after Poneke openside flanker Masefau Leuluniu had been sent to the sinbin for infringing at the breakdown inside his 22.

Then, as part of a wave of pressure on Poneke's line early in the second half Ories fullback Trevor Marama was held up over the line in the corner and then skipper and prop Donal McNamara was also held up having crossed the whitewash from a resulting 5-metre srcum.

Instead of being down and possibly out, Poneke regrouped and clawed their way into the match through their well-performed pack who lifted a gear and climbed into their Ories counterparts.

They levelled at 10-10 through a converted try to the recently reinstated Leuluniu, after storming down field, winning a penalty and opting for a lineout drive instead of the chance for three points.

With momentum now with Poneke, Ories' discipline also steadily fell away and Poneke obliged through a penalty to first five-eighth Jeremy Te Huia, following a break up into the 22 by right wing Tupu Saena and carried on by hooker Dane Coles.

Te Huia then potted consecutive dropped kicks that extended the lead to 19-10 with the clock rapidly winding down. Ories launched one final assault at Poneke's line, but once again they conceded possession and territory and Te Huia had the last say with a late penalty to take the final score to 22-10.

Earlier in bright sunshine and in front of a large crowd, both sides had fought a ding-dong first half of thrust and counterattack dominated by big defence and few clear chances. Proctor and Te Huia exchanged penalties to see scores locked at 3-3 after half an hour.

The flashpoint came with Poneke hot on attack and threatening to score the opening try through their forwards through a series of pick and drives. Ories' close quarter defence held and so Poneke spun the ball through their backs instead. But the movement broke down in midfield and Ories left winger Curtis hacked ahead the loose ball, regathered and then sprinted the length of the field for the game's first try. Proctor converted from out wide and Ories deserved their 10-3 lead.

Hardham Cup

The Wests Roosters and Wainuiomata each put themselves in the box seat to make the semi-finals with their fourth consecutive victories of the second round.

The Wests Roosters were pushed hard throughout much of the first half by a desperate Avalon who simply had to win to keep their season alive. Scores remained 0-0 for the opening 30 minutes before Wests No. 8 Sai Rokosalu broke the deadlock with an unconverted try to take the Roosters to a 5-0 halftime lead.

The Roosters started the second half the way they finished the first, adding further tries to second five-eighth Ahtuni Masum and first five-eighth Declan McKeefry to take a 17-0 lead into the business end of the contest. Avalon replied through hooker Manual Efaraimo, but Wests wrapped the game up and scored their fourth and bonus point try towards the end to lock Lance Mann.

Wainuiomata's win over Tawa was hard fought and only assured at the very end when former New Zealand U20 halfback stepped up to kick the match winning penalty.

Wilson's winning kick, came soon after Tawa left winger George Tilsley had seemingly put his side in front for the first time, with a penalty to make it 18-17 to the home team.

In a close game throughout, Tawa had fought back from a 3-10 deficit at halftime that became 3-17 soon after the break when the visitors added their third try and Wilson converted. Tawa came back to score two tries, through Vodafone Wellington Lions second five-eighth Shaun Treeby and left winger George Tilsley, and Tilsley put them in front with a penalty before they ran out of puff and Wainuiomata snatched the points.

In the battle of the ‘B' sides, the Hutt Old Boys Marist Bs toppled their Norths counterparts 22-17. The loss for Norths served to keep them in fourth place and also keep Johnsonville firmly in the hunt.

In the early Hardham Cup game between Johnsonville and Marist St. Pat's at Kelburn Park, replacement Johnsonville loose forward Sene Ta'ala crashed over under the posts on fulltime and first five-eighth Corey Burt added the extras for a 24-24 draw.

As well as keeping their semi-finals hopes alive, the draw for Johnsonville pulls them clear of Avalon in the Hardham Cup promotion-relegation battle for the right to play in next year's Swindale Shield. They now have a six-point buffer to Avalon with three rounds to play.

The 14-man Johnsonville were seemingly heading for their third defeat of the second round following the late sinbinning of fullback Lio Palepua for a dangerous tackle and their subsequent inability to work themselves into a try-scoring position over the final several minutes. But, better late than never, Ta'ala's quick tap penalty from the base of a scrum saw them clinch the draw on the death-knock.

Previously, MSP had rocked Johnsonville with two quick tries midway through the second half to turn a 14-9 halftime lead to Johnsonville into a 21-14 advantage to MSP.

Turning with the moderate southerly wind in their favour, MSP put the pressure on Johnsonville early in the second half and fullback Ryan Setefano should have kicked his fourth penalty but pushed his shot wide. MSP's decision to turn down another shot soon after saw them instead rewarded with a try to replacement hooker Tui Tuia after a tap close to the line. Setefano's conversion from out wide put them in front 16-14.

Their second try, from long-range, was also laced with controversy, MSP centre George Faiinga'a seemingly offside when he chased through and collected a box kick over a ruck by halfback Nick Wanden. The ball sat up perfectly for Faiinga'a to recover, who in turn passed back on his inside to Wanden who then found powerful left winger Ben Tuiatua in support to score the try. Setefano added the extras and MSP suddenly had a seven-point lead.

Burt clawed one back for Johnsonville with a penalty. But Setefano also slotted one for MSP with 10 minutes to go, asking Johnsonville to at least score a converted try to draw level and they obliged on fulltime.

Earlier, Johnsonville had made a jittery start with several errors leading to MSP taking a 6-0 lead through two Setefano penalties.

But when Johnsonville got their hands on the ball in good position they were able to create pressure up the middle and their physical forwards climbed into their work with several strong thrusts. One such concerted raid led to a defensive MSP lineout not thrown straight and an attacking scrum in prime position. From the set-piece, flyhalf Burt hit the line hard and offloaded to bustling No. 8 Tavita Ah Wong in support to score the try near the posts and put Johnsonville ahead 7-6.

Johnsonville were almost in again in the right hand corner through loosies Ah Wong and Mykel Herewini and centre Nathan Collins, before Collins was bundled into touch. But from the next play, lock Campbell Tait stole MSP's defensive lineout ball and Johnsonville quickly shovelled the ball out to left wing Dane Robertson who scored in the corner. Burt's sideline conversion made it 14-6.

Setefano closed the deficit with his third penalty before halftime, setting up the closely fought second half.

Senior 1 and 2

In other grades, Poneke fell to their first defeat of the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup and also slipped from first to third in the standings. Poneke's 3-27 loss to Ories was Ories' gain, who moved to the top of the table after four rounds.

Old Boys-University beat Stokes Valley 25-5 to also leapfrog Poneke on points differential.

In two tight Senior 1 matches, midtable protagonists Paremata-Plimmerton and Petone drew 24-24 and Tawa pipped winless Norths 22-18. In the other match, Rimutaka beat Avalon 30-5 to grab their second win of the Ed Chaney Cup and also keep Avalon winless.

In the Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Trophy, MSP and Wellington kept their second round winning streaks intact - but only just - while Upper Hutt suffered their first loss.

In two close games, MSP overcame the Wests Roosters 24-17 and Wellington tipped over Wainuiomata 34-31.

In a low scoring thriller, Upper Hutt went down 6-8 to Old Boys-University, who grabbed their second win.

Hutt Old Boys Marist edged out Poneke 10-3 for their third win in four games, while Petone climbed off the bottom of the ladder with their first win, a 24-0 win over winless Paremata-Plimmerton.

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