Little wonder Greytown Black were all smiles after their nail-biting 26-24 win over the Rams in their Wairarapa-Bush JAB under-13s grand final late last month.
For the majority of the side it was their last season at JAB level and with coaches Todd Evans and Marty Berry calling the shots they had amassed a most impressive record in lead-up games, losing just twice when missing some of their key players.
As the final scoreline would indicate, the competition decider was a thriller with a talented Rams side throwing everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at Greytown Black over the closing stages and the latter clinging desperately to their two-point advantage. In the end it was the tenacity of their defence which proved to be the deciding factor.
Greytown Black amassed a total of 488 points over the season with only 243 points scored against them. Top points scorer was their inspirational skipper Chris Hemi who ran in a remarkable 34 tries - four of them in the final - and kicked 22 conversions.
