Central rugby rock Havelock North in the village

With 22 points and the match-winning goal, teenaged rugby hope Harry Godfrey is swamped by Central teammates after the 32-29 win over Havelock North. Photo / Paul Taylor

Waipukurau-based Central chalked one up for country club rugby with a dramatic 32-29 win over Havelock North in a Nash Cup Hawke's Bay Premier grade match in Havelock North on Saturday.

The only club in the 10-team top-grade first-round competition not from twin cities Napier and Hastings, the visitors relished the return of two of their three Super Rugby Aotearoa under-20 tournament players - new acquisition and NZ Secondary Schools first five-eighths Harry Godfrey's 22 points including a last-minute penalty to break a 29-a11 deadlock.

It confirmed Central's place in the top eight to contest the Maddison Trophy in a reshaping of the senior rugby grades in Hawke's Bay this season.

But the Pool 2 bottom-of-the-table result also packed Havelock North off to the second division for the rest of the season, without a win to date. The Villagers will be absent from the Maddison Trophy for the first time since the competition went bay-wide with a finals playoff format in 1988.

In the intervening 33 years, Havelock North reached the semifinals 27 times and won the trophy in seven of the club's 18 finals. They last held the Nash Cup with back-to-back wins in 2012 and 2013.

The same fate befell 2011 and 2015 Maddison Trophy winners Napier Pirate, who conceded 10 tries to neighbouring club Napier Old Boys Marist in a 68-7 defeat. That confirmed their place at the bottom of Pool 1 with one preliminary round to play before the May 8 cross-pools final.

After years of battling to beat Napier-Hastings clubs in the twin cities, it was Central's second win at Anderson Park in a row, with a 22-0 win at home in Waipukurau last season in between.

Manager Ian Large said the side was still waiting to get its top front-row on the park and is looking forward to the championship round with a lot of hope.

Meanwhile, Hastings Rugby and Sport moved another step closer to a Nash Cup final with a 25-15 away win over Taradale, the crossover match between the unbeaten sides in each pool and their first clash since Hastings won last year's championship final to claim the Maddison Trophy outright for the first time.

Danny Toala's experience with Super Rugby told handsomely and the centre scored two of Hastings' three tries, including the first just before halftime to break a 3-all deadlock.

The winners' defence was almost unbreachable up to the last quarter as Hastings widened the gap to 25-3 and Taradale bombed a few opportunities close to the line before Taradale managed two tries with the big men from close to the line. The first went to Lolani Faleiva who made a big impact from the time he came on as a second-half substitute in his first match since having his jaw broken in a Maddison Trophy semifinal last year.

Hastings halfback Connor McLeod took another step forward in his bid to become the No 1 halfback for the Hawke's Bay Magpies in the Bunnings NPC, both in general play and with 10 points from the boot. With 42 points for the season, he heads the chase to be the first to reach the 50, joined by Trinity Spooner-Naera, who now has just the one chance to bring up the half-century when Havelock North play Taradale next Saturday.

In other matches, Napier Tech OB had a 42-31 home win in Napier against Hastings side Tamatea, while Clive had a 34-24 home win over MAC, all four doing enough, win or loss, to survive the cut.

Napier OBM's reserve side and Maraenui maintained unbeaten records in the Town and Country grade and head the race for second-round Division 1 places along with Taradale's second XV and non-Premier clubs Bridge Pa, Aotea, from Dannevirke, and Waipawa Country, along with the already-confirmed Havelock North and Napier Pirate. The top 2 in that second-round competition will play Nash Cup next season.

Hastings Rugby and Sports collared the first competition trophy of the season with a 22-12 Colts first-round final win over Napier Tech OB to claim the Arthur Brown Cup for 2021.