Wainui, HOBM and Upper Hutt big ANZAC Day winners

Wainuiomata prop Justin Va'a scoring one of his side's tries against Ories. Wainuiomata beat Ories 37-20 and won the Bill Brien Challenge Cup.?

Wainuiomata, Hutt Old Boys Marist and Upper Hutt were all bonus point winners on Wednesday's ANZAC Day set of fourth round Swindale Shield matches played in bright sunshine, that saw three hat tricks and plenty of exciting and absorbing rugby in equal measure.

HOBM and Upper Hutt kept their unbeaten runs alive with emphatic wins over Petone and Rimtuaka respectively in front of bumper crowds, while Wainuiomata won the Bill Brien Challenge Cup with a resounding victory over defending champions Oriental-Rongotai at the Polo Ground.

Playing to a sizable Petone Recreation Ground crowd, HOBM soared to the outright lead in the Swindale Shield standings and retained the McBain Shield after beating Petone 43-21. A super-slick HOBM had too much pace for the Villagers, running in six tries to two with left wing Leka Tupuola the main beneficiary by scoring a hat-trick.

After drawing with Petone on Saturday, Upper Hutt resumed their winning ways, comfortably beating newcomers Rimutaka 77-0 at a packed Maidstone Park and winning the Darryl Amies Cup. Upper Hutt scored eight tries, with first five-eighth Ben Aoina scoring a hat trick and 29 points.

Wainuiomata's forwards paved the way for their third win in four games and Ories' first loss in a 37-20 scoreline. Fullback Tau Mamea scored two of four tries as Wainuiomata pulled clear from a 20-13 lead at halftime.

In three close matches with interclub trophies on the line that could have gone either way, Marist St. Pat's beat Poneke 20-8, Norths defeated Tawa 26-13 and OBU overcame the Wests Roosters 10-6.

MSP and Norths both pulled away late in their contests to seal their wins. At Evans Bay Park, MSP scored two late tries to clinch the competition points and retain the Horan-Millar Trophy. Norths came from behind to retain the Sammy Saili Memorial Trophy against Tawa and they also scored two late tries to make their victory appear much more comfortable than was the case. Norths wing AJ Vaalepu was the third player of the afternoon to score a hat trick in the Swindale Shield.

In a gritty match at Ian Galloway Park for the Omar Cup, Old Boys University held on in to the wind in the second half, protecting their four-point lead right up to the end with a huge defensive effort that protected their line against a desperate Roosters side.

The Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield fourth round set of matches was characterised by a series of super-close matches and narrow scorelines.

Three of the six matches were decided by margins of victory of seven points or fewer and the other three both threw up close results. This is reflected in the points table after four rounds where the leading six teams are separated by three points and HOBM, Wainuiomata and OBU are in a three-way tie at the top of the standings on 15 points.

In Senior 1 games on Wednesday MSP beat Poneke 13-5, HOBM beat Petone 19-14, Wainuomata beat Ories 24-19, Norths beat Tawa 31-22 - making it wins in each of the top two grades for MSP, HOBM Wainuiomata and Norths - OBU defeated Johnsonville 29-24 and Paremata-Plimmerton toppled Avalon 38-24.

In the Senior 2 National Mutual Cup, Upper Hutt and the Wellington Axemen each made it four wins from four, while MSP beat Poneke by a point, 29-28.

Upper Hutt earned their fourth consecutive bonus point win beating Stokes Valley 57-3 while Wellington ran through Norths 56-12.In three much closer results decided by the margin of a converted try or under, HOBM joined MSP as winners in the top three grades over the same opposition by beating Petone 21-16, OBU held off Wests 35-29 and Avalon kept Ories at bay 15-11.

Swindale Shield match round-ups:

In the McBain Shield clash at the Petone Recreation Ground, Hutt Old Boys Marist were too slick and too fast for Petone in a thrilling six tries to two win.

While the forwards battle was an at times willing and tense affair, with Hurricanes flanker Brad Shields making an impact off the bench in the second half for Petone, it was HOBM's expansive and positive style of play that made the difference on a hard and fast Petone Rec deck.

All six of the Eagles' tries were scored by numbers 11,14 and 15, with left wing Leka Tupuola scoring a second half hat trick and right wing Tupeni Kamakorewa crossing for a brace.

The Eagles sealed a game they always looked like taking control of midway through the second half when left wing Tupuola scored two tries in two minutes and they pulled away to take a 29-16 lead.

This became a 20-point advantage soon after when right wing Kamakorewa got in on the act and scored his second try, albeit fortuitous, from a kick into the corner that sat up for him to regather instead of it going into touch.

Fittingly, Tupuola ran in his hat trick with several minutes remaining after a galloping run in broken play by evergreen lock Polonga Pedro.

Previously, HOBM had scored their first two tries and Petone kicked three penalties as HOBM took a 17-9 lead into the break.

Playing with the wind, Petone led 6-3 after 25 minutes, before HOBM made one of several early chances stick and they scored the first try to Kamakorewa following a lineout steal near halfway and a charging run up the touchline by mobile prop Simon Malaeulu.

Fullback Glen Walters then finished off a lovely long-range try started from a quick tap penalty on their 22 and carried on by first five-eighth Kahu Kamatea who ripped a long pass across to Walters who interchanged with Kamokorewa for the try.

Petone grabbed three points back just before the interval through a third penalty to first five-eighth Jared Kahu after his jinking run set up field position.

Petone struck first after the interval through second five-eighth Nick Grigg, putting on the afterburners in his dash to the whitewash after a bust up the middle by blindside Mateaki Kafatolu and some good support play in the open by Nua Fono-Hunt, who started the game at centre and was now at halfback. Kahu's conversion closed the Villagers to within one point at 16-17 behind.

HOBM answered with Tupuola's first try, crossing from close range after a quick tap by halfback Nick Risdon. Walters converted from the sideline to put the Eagles ahead 24-16.

HOBM then pulled away and at 42-16 it was game over, although Petone fought hard over the remainder of the match and Shields was held up over the line. Instead it was fullback Wiremu Adds who ran in a well deserved consolation at the end.

In the Senior 1 curtain-raiser HOBM sailed home on the second half breeze to beat Petone 19-14. Petone led 11-0 at halftime, but, after missing two early second half penalty shots on goal, HOBM flew in for two tries and took a 12-11 lead. Petone regrouped and added a penalty but HOBM scored again and then held Petone off on their own tryline at the end.

Up the river at Maidstone Park, Upper Hutt scored 11 tries in their win over neighbours Rimutaka in their inaugural clash at Premier level. Upper Hutt scored four tries and led 32-0 at halftime and pulled clear in the second spell.

As expected, little could separate MSP and Poneke in their clash at Evans Bay Park and the teams went into halftime locked up approaching halftime on the back of penalties to MSP first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili and Poneke fullback Ben Huntley.

Poneke then broke open a tight contest with a try in the corner to lock Presley Tufaga after a run up the blindside, putting the red and blacks ahead 8-3. However MSP responded with their first try of the match, to openside flanker Sio Tuia, converted by Fili. Fili then kicked a penalty to extend their lead to 13-8 before blindside flanker Ben Nansett scored the clincher near the end, to also deny Poneke a bonus point.

Wainuiomata broke open a close game early in the second half ?against Ories when fullback Tau Mamea finished off a well constructed team try late in the first half to put the visitors ahead 20-13 at halftime. Previously both sides had scored scored tries off grubber kicks and remained tight after 35 minutes of play.

Ories hit right back after the break with their second try and the match remained on tender hookers before Wainuiomata second five-eighth Marvin Kawawana ran back a 22-metre dropout and offloaded to Mamea to score again, putting Wainuiomata ahead 30-20. Veteran tighthead prop Justin Va'a then made it a day to remember for the green and blacks, scoring the match winning and bonus point try late in the match.

Tawa pushed Norths all the way at Porirua Park, the 26-13 scoreline to Norths not reflective of a closer contest. Two penalties to Norths' one had Tawa out in front until deep into the first half the teams eventually went into the break locked up at 6-6.

Tawa then regained the lead with a converted try to first five-eighth Willie Lafaele and they led 13-9 well into the second half. Then AJ Va'alepu scored the first of his three tries through an intercept and Norths now clung on to lead 14-13. They then denied Tawa any competition points with two tries at the death.

OBU bounced back from their underwhelming loss to Tawa on Saturday with a gritty win over Wests in the lowest scoring match of the round.

The scoreboard attendants weren't troubled until well into the first half when OBU first five-eighth Nick Cudby kicked a penalty to put the students up 3-0. OBU then scored the game's only try to right wing James Shaw after a run by prop Jonathon Fuimaono.

Now playing with the wind behind them in the second half, Wests mounted their comeback by kicking two penalties and closing to 10-6. But OBU dug deep and held them out for the remainder of the match in a result that could be big for both teams in the final wash-up of the first round.

The action continues on Saturday with the fifth round set of Swindale Shield, Harper Lock Shield and National Mutual Cup matches, plus full rounds of Premier Women's and all other senior men's grades.

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