Early Leaders To Clash At Petone Recreation Ground

Three teams remain unbeaten after a closely fought opening two rounds of the Swindale Shield. Last year’s Jubilee Cup finalists Petone and Northern United, along with Hutt Old Boys Marist are the early front-runners.

The stage is set then for a fast action round three match-up between Petone and HOBM at the Petone Recreation Ground, where the 74-year-old McBain Shield is on the line. Holders Petone head into this game fresh from a Tana Umaga-inspired 31-5 win over Old Boys-University, following on from a 15-13 victory against Marist St. Pats. With fighting wins over Poneke (28-18) and Upper Hutt (32-29) under their belt, HOBM will head down the river with confidence against the champions.

Northern United will be hoping to join either HOBM or Petone in maintaining their unbeaten record after three rounds. It’s Old Timer’s Day for Norths, and a big turnout is expected at Porirua Park where they host Western Suburbs. Wests, with one win from two will need to be at their best against Norths, who have yet to concede a point, beating Avalon 7-0 and Johnsonville 46-0. The unpredictable Wests always scrap hard with Norths and their fans will well remember their one visit to Porirua Park in 2005, when only vital handling errors let Norths off the hook for a 16-14 win.

In other games, Old Boys-University and Marist St. Pats play for the Jack Lamason Memorial Cup at Evans Bay Park. It was a lean Swindale season for OBU in 2005, and after two first up losses, albeit to big guns Petone (31-5) and Upper Hutt (24-17), the students will be eager to kick-start their season against MSP. OBU also ended a similar form drought in 2004 against MSP, winning 13-10 in the Jubilee Cup round.

Across the road from the MSP-OBU clash, Poneke play Avalon at Kilbirnie Park, in what is traditionally a tough struggle between two top contenders. Both sides will be looking for their second win in the early jostle for top eight points. Tawa and Upper Hutt are set to have each of their New Zealand Sevens stars back in action when they meet at Maidstone Park. Nigel Hunt is likely to return to halfback for Tawa, while Upper Hutt’s backline, devoid of attacking options against HOBM, will welcome back Cory Jane. Meanwhile Johnsonville cross town to the Polo Grounds to take on Ories.