Bonus point wins for leading trio set up last round blockbuster

Swindale Shield week 10 review: Wellington club rugby fans can look forward to a blockbusting last round of Swindale Shield rugby next weekend after bonus point wins for Petone, Norths and Poneke in Saturday's tenth round set of matches mean any of these sides could walk away with the first round title on their own.

The 2009 Swindale Shield is set to go down to the wire in a three-horse race for first round title honours between these three sides and a fourth team, Oriental-Rongotai, ?who are still in the hunt to at least share the silverware.

In round 10 matches on Saturday, leaders Petone overcame Wainuiomata in a six-try 39-15 win at home at the Village, Northern United romped home against the Wests Roosters 58-6 at Ian Galloway Park and Poneke earned the five points on offer against Upper Hutt in a 37-22 win at Kilbirnie Park.

These results mean Petone (on 42 points) still maintain their one-point lead at the top of the standings to second placed Northern United (41), with Poneke (38) right behind waiting to pounce should both of these teams slip up in the final round and Ories (37) still in line for a possible share of the spoils if results go their way.

?If two or more teams finish the round-robin level on points The Swindale Shield will be shared for just the third time since its modern-day resurrection in 1969.

Adding spice to a possible dramatic finish is next week's draw that sees Petone travel to the Polo Ground to meet Ories and Norths hosting Marist St. Pat's in a re-run of last year's Jubilee Cup final, as well as Poneke meeting Wainuiomata at William Jones Park.

In other results from this weekend, Oriental-Rongotai's late 20-17 win over Tawa at the Polo Ground could be the most important last minute win of the season. Not only has it kept Ories alive for a share of the title and a historic first Swindale Shield title, but it also kept the battle between Tawa and Wainuiomata for the eighth Jubilee Cup berth alive until the end.

In other matches, MSP were comprehensive 35-7 winners over Hutt Old Boys Marist at the Hutt Recreation Ground and Avalon pipped Old Boys-University 27-26 for the likely battle of the wooden spoon at Fraser Park. For the Club Weekly's full report on this match scroll down towards the bottom of this page.

After two consecutive weekends of wind and rain, weather conditions were much more benign for the penultimate round, with just a gentle southerly proving a blessing for Poneke's supporters who last week were forced to watch their side lose to Ories at a Kilbirnie Park freezer.

This week though, they had to contend with a gale of a different sort in the form of an in-form Upper Hutt who held them to a 13-10 lead at halftime and then hit the front midway through the second spell with a converted try to fullback Anthony Davidson.

But Poneke ultimately held their composure to retain the Alby Makeham Shield, re-taking the lead at 20-17 with a try to centre Charlie Ngatai and then scoring the match winner through lock Daniel Ramsay and holding on to the end. Both sides scored four tries, but four conversions and two penalties to Poneke first five-eighth Adrian Grey made the difference.

Earlier, both sides got off to a fast start, Poneke winger Ambrose Plaister scoring a long-range try from a turnover in the opening exchanges and Upper Hutt replying almost immediately through centre Brett Pigott. Grey kicked then kicked two penalties and Upper Hutt scored another unconverted try and it was all on at halftime.

Petone were made to work extremely hard for their win over Wainuiomata to retain the Darren Larsen Cup in a match featuring All Blacks Neemia Tialata for Petone and Piri Weepu for Wainuiomata.

In a tight tussle, the teams were separated up to the 30-minute mark by just a Hayden Cripps penalty giving Petone a 3-0 lead. The table-topping Villagers then scored two quickfire tries to centre Cam Incledon and right wing Fautua Otto to extend their buffer out to 17-0. However, Wainuiomata hit back through left wing Jason Love to trail 17-5 at the break after a wide-ranging pass by first five-eighth Weepu found its mark.

Wainuiomata right wing Michael Williams then scored the first of his two tries after halftime to narrow the gap further to 17-10 and Petone had to dig deep just to secure their victory before thinking about winning with a bonus point.

Teenaged No. 8 Bradley Shields crossed for their third try to put Petone ahead 22-10, but Petone right wing Greg Walker scored their bonus point and match winning try inside the last 10 minutes after a long range breakout. From there, Petone stretched their advantage with two further tries to Walker and first five-eighth Cripps.

Back in town, Ories were forced to fend off a stern challenge by a desperate Tawa hoping to seal their place in the top eight with a week to spare.

Tawa rocked Ories early with a converted try to centre Willie Lafaele and a penalty to left wing and Hurricanes speedster David Smith and the visitors led 10-3 after 25 minutes. Ories weathered Tawa's storm and deadeye first five-eighth James Proctor kept his side in touch with two further penalties before the turnaround.

Prolific points scorer Proctor added two more penalties after the oranges to put his side ahead 15-10 before Tawa halfback Filipo Palepua scored a converted try to see Tawa regain the lead at 17-15.

But Ories second five-eighth Paula Kinikinilau crossed at the end to seal the win and negociate the home team's the first defence of the Bill Brien Cup.

At Ian Galloway Park, Norths swept aside the Wests Roosters for a comfortable win, scoring four unconverted tries for their bonus point try after 25 minutes and then pulling away further from there.

A feature of this victory was another four tries to centre sensation Alipati Leiua, who has now scored 16 tries in 10 matches this season and 25 tries in 20 Premier starts for Norths.

With the Father Cleary Shield on the line, the match between Hutt Old Boys Marist and MSP at the Hutt Rec was billed as a tough encounter, but MSP made no race of it in winning four tries to one.

MSP grabbed an early 9-0 lead through a penalty to first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili and two dropped goals to halfback Peter Sciascia, ahead of Fili racing away and scoring an intercept try under the posts to put MSP ahead 16-0 at halftime. They then added three more tries in the second? spell, to loose forwards Sio Tuia and Alex Tulou and the other a penalty try.

In other grades, the Petone Senior 3 side became the second team this year and the first to officially get their hands on the trophy by drawing 15-15 with MSP in their ‘virtual final' last round JDR Cup clash at the Petone Recreation Ground.

In a drama-filled last few minutes, MSP scored a late try to draw level but missed with their conversion which would have seen the first round Senior 3 title go to MSP along with the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield they won last week with a fortnight to spare.

With the Harper Lock Shield sewn up, The MSP Senior 1's won their tenth consecutive match of the round, beating mid-table Hutt Old Boys Marist 17-15 in their closest result of the season so far.

In other Senior 1 matches, Poneke became the second team behind MSP to qualify for the Hardham Cup with their 31-5 bonus point win over Upper Hutt at Kilbirnie Park. The battle for the final two spots in the Hardham Cup is still very much alive heading into the final round, with four sides still in the hunt for the final two places available. ?Johnsonville, Rimutaka, Petone and Ories are all separated by just six points from third to sixth, making the last round of this grade next week as exciting as the Swindale Shield.

In results on Saturday, Johnsonville overcame Ories 16-15 at the Polo Ground, Rimutaka edged out OBU 10-8 at Maoribank Park and Petone sauntered past Paremata-Plimmerton 41-14 at the Petone Rec.

The top two finishers in the Senior 2 National Mutual Cup to advance to the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup in the second round have been decided with a week to spare, but the winner won't be known until end of the final round.

MSP suffered a 46-41 loss to HOBM to open the door for Norths to come home and grab the Senior 2 silverware after they dispatched the Wests Roosters to see both these sides level pegging on 40 points heading into the final round.

The bonus point win for HOBM over MSP lifts them from fourth to third, ahead of Tawa who lost 29-14 to the steadily improving Wellington Axemen in their match.

The Premier Women's Fleurs Trophy will be heading to Porirua next week if they pick up any points in their last round fixture with mid-table MSP after they won their ninth straight encounter of the season on Saturday, beating Eketahuna 17-10.

In other women's matches, Johnsonville ensured at least a second placed finish by beating Petone 25-17 and Stokes Valley strode out to a 125-0 victory over bottom placed Wainuiomata.

Meanwhile, the Club Weekly on hand to see a spirited Avalon hold on to beat Old Boys-University in a one-point thriller on their Old Timers' Day at Fraser Park.

The home side gave its raucous home crowd something to cheer about with their first win in over two seasons of the Swindale Shield, beating a rattled Old Boys-University and lifting themselves off the bottom off the table.

In a high-energy clash, Avalon made OBU pay for their defensive lapses and ill-discipline, scoring all their four tries off OBU mistakes and infringements for a hugely popular victory for their supporters.

There was drama near the end when OBU came roaring back from a 27-19 deficit with a converted try under the posts to centre Ben Harris with three minutes showing on the clock and then threatened to break out up the right hand touchline and steal the win. But with time up and throughout a long injury time,? Avalon kept their cool at the right end of the field and the celebrations were loud and long when referee Scott Ford blew his pea for the final time.

It was a good afternoon all round, Avalon's Senior 2 side earlier tasting success in the curtain raiser by holding off a barrage of late OBU attacking for a tense 15-10 win in the National Mutual Cup Senior 2 fixture. The twin wins giving hope to Avalon's Old Timers' who this month 20 years ago contributed four players in Wellington's starting fifteen that famously defeated France 24-23 at Athletic Park.

There were flashes of vintage Avalon in the home side's play as well, their big forwards driving and mauling like their teams of old and several individuals coming up with big games. None more so than rampaging loosehead prop Elijah Fonoti who bulldozed his way through rucks with several stirring runs into open space, and his propping partner and veteran Errol Weston, locks Hare Pupuke and Damian Collins and No. 8 Jonathan Tupuse all taking his lead.

With the likely wooden spoon on offer in this match, tensions were high from the start. Both sides were guilty of giving away far too many penalties, culminating in the sinbinning of OBU flanker James Roach after 20 minutes with OBU at that stage ahead 9-3 on penalty kicks.

Avalon then scored their first try to close the deficit to 9-8 after a series of drives inside OBU's 22 and left wing Malili Tofiga crossing in the corner up the narrowest of blindsides. Tofiga caught OBU's defenders napping by tiptoeing his way up the sideline around and past a shortside ruck with seemingly nowhere to move and somehow made to the corner flag to the surprise of everyone including himself.

From there the penalties kept coming, and OBU first five-eighth Jeremy Little slotted his fourth consecutive three-pointer to extent the lead to 12-8 after 30 minutes.

Two minutes later Avalon centre Finau Hopoi was sin binned for more cynical play at the breakdown, but Little's fifth penalty attempt came up short.

With Hopoi cooling off, Avalon then scored their second try, right winger Ah Wong,? capitalising on an OBU bungle at the back after first five-eighth Fraser Jones had put in a cross-kick into the in-goal for him to run on to more in hope than anything else. But two OBU defenders were unable to clean up the bouncing ball in their in-goal and Wong gratefully obliged and came up with the five-pointer.

The conversion was missed and Avalon went to the break with the sun breaking out over Fraser Park ahead 13-12.

OBU were much more urgent after the break and after an after a long period of positive, flowing rugby lock Mike Scott galloped through some flimsy defence to score their first try under the posts. Little added the extras and the students had once again gained a six-point lead at 19-13 in front.

OBU were continuing to threaten, but in a flash, a silly OBU penalty at an attacking lineout, second penalty for not being back the 10 metres, and then a booming 40 metre Jones touchfinder into OBU's 22 presented the home side with a scoring chance.

The ensuing lineout was won off the top by Collins, who tapped down to Pupeke wrapping around from the front who was brought down just short of the line. But charging prop Fonoti was on hand from the next ruck and steamed towards the chalk and offloaded in the tackle to halfback Cameron Cross to score the try. Cross converted his own try and suddenly Avalon had the lead again at 20-19.

Avalon scored what proved to be the match winner five minutes later, captialising on more fast ball off the top of a lineout penalty, yet another storming run up over the advantage line by Fonoti and quick hands through the backs and Wong scoring in the right hand carpark corner. This made it 25-19 with the kick to come, which Cross nailed from the sideline establishing a crucial eight-point advantage with almost 15 minutes still to play.

The home side held on by the skin of their teeth, the win at least giving them some confidence heading into the Hardham Cup round starting in two weeks.

The Avalon-OBU match-up in the second round should be a ripper, not least because this victory was the continuation of a seesawing head-to-head tussle between these sides that now sees Avalon and OBU equal with six wins apiece against each other in their last 12 clashes going back to this corresponding match in the 2002 Jubilee Cup.

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