Error-ridden Mid Northern are left stinging in the rain by Wellsford

Northern wasted an opportunity to go to the top of the Joe Morgan Memorial rugby competition after being ambushed 13-20 at home by Wellsford.
Saturday's match never reached the heights that was expected from the competition's two leading teams. Both sides were weakened by injury with wet conditions adding to a high error count but the visitors took better advantage of the good ball they had and showed more desperation to win.
Mid Northern coach Darrel Pita was at a loss to explain what happened particularly in the first spell, when they at least equalled their opposition in possession and territory yet trailed 0-15 at the break.
"We just weren't firing at all, there was a lack of enthusiasm out there and we were too quiet. Maybe we missed our normal halfback Scott Wilson and that could have had an impact on our forwards," he said.
Wellsford captain Stu Oldfield was elated by the way they had kept their heads when under pressure.
"I thought we defended well, especially on our line, and came away with a couple of good tries from counter-attacks. When they scored with about five minutes to go we knew our defence would hold up and it did," he said.
Oldfield, standing in for regular captain Scott Brady, led by example, marshalling the troops in defence and always available for work at the breakdown.
The visitors missed Brady's presence in the line-out and only kicked for the sideline when there was no other option. Their scrum, on the other hand, was much stronger than Mid Northern's, with the home side pushed off their own scrum feed a couple of times.
The Mid Northern backs sensed they had the measure of their opponents with both Rene Ranger and JoJo Ranger missing in the Wellsford backline. However, in hindsight, they were guilty of being over-elaborate in their set plays, given the conditions, and two of their errors resulted either directly or indirectly in tries to the visitors.
Wellsford fullback Matt Wright, back in the side after an injury, provided the spark for their first try. After fielding an aimless kick centrefield, he brushed off a tackle and cut through the cover defence before finally being pulled down just short of the line. Flanker John Cocker was there to recycle the ball and find Jamal Brogan, who scored from close range.
With five minutes to go in the spell, Mid Northern put together a clever set-piece move with Jershon Stewart-Witehira timing his run well to hit a gap before unaccountably losing control of the ball in the act of scoring.
The error summed up the home side's half and it was no surprise that Wellsford capitalised on another midfield error moments later, to set up their second try. The loose ball was hacked downfield and the visitors earned a scrum in the home side's 22, with first five-eighth Johnny Moimoi's crossfield kick bouncing perfectly into Eddie Hay's arms to score.
Mid Northern started the second spell with some resolve and two early David Howell penalties gave them some hope. They started to control the game more but when Wellsford refused to yield they were guilty of a lack of patience, pushing passes when they weren't on.
The Wellsford backs continued to get up quickly in defence and cause errors and, when inside centre Kieron Smith picked up a loose ball to canter 30m to the line, the score was 20-6.
Mid Northern then added some heat to the game by closing the gap to seven points with a Buddy Grey touchdown - and a sideline conversion by Howell - but Wellsford resisted their late challenge.
In other Southern Districts Premier matches, Old Boys went desperately close to their first win of the season against Marist. They led 13-6 with full-time almost up, only to see Tommy Vainakolo score a try and captain Jack Walker add a difficult kick to tie up the match.
Hora Hora continue to firm up their challenge for a top four place by beating the fourth-placed Western Sharks 24-15, while Hikurangi scored 48 points against Waipu without conceding any.
Kamo spent the last couple of minutes hammering away at Mid Western's line but came up short, allowing the visitors to prevail 9-5.