Ories Take Third Win

Round 5 Review Round five of the Hardham Cup saw Oriental-Rongotai and Johnsonville face off with Ories narrowly winning 18-17. Hutt Old Boys Marist and Old Boys University came up against each other to fight for the top spot with HOBM the victors 13-10. HOBM are now the only team to have won every game are clear at the top of the leader board on 23 points. Poneke just managed to snatch the win from Marist St Pats with MSP going down 17-13. Northern United finally got their first win for the Hardham Cup beating Petone 19-15 on Saturday.

The feature match for this weekend was the encounter between Oriental-Rongotai and Johnsonville. Ories were on the back foot from the beginning of the match with the majority of the ref?s calls not going their way. Throughout the match the referee punished the side for their mistakes, which made their job all the more difficult. The handy boot of Corey Burt got Johnsonville out to a 6-0 lead early on in the match, however this lead didn?t last long with Ories scoring shortly after. The entire game was tit for tat with each team fighting for the win.

At half time Ories came out on top 15-12, fortunate to be ahead considering the lack of possession they had during the first half. The second half proved to be a lot closer than the first with Ories on defence for prolonged periods until Johnsonville eventually capitalized, crossing the line giving them the lead nearing the end of the match. But Ories hung in their and only minutes before the end of the game they were rewarded for their determination with a penalty that Miah Nikora happily took advantage of, taking his side to a 18-17 victory.

The Johnsonville scrum was a force to be reckoned with, creating numerous tight heads and gaining a lot of ground. Mauls were another aspect that they also excelled in, stealing precious metres giving the side good territory throughout the game. Unforced errors let both teams down during the match, preventing the game from flowing as smoothly as they would have liked. The always consistent Corey Burt played well with his tactical kicking keeping his side in the match. Lote Raikabula showed how dangerous he was on attack scoring a brilliant try and breaking tackles all over the park.