Carterton grinds out gutsy win

Smarter use of the elements played a big part in Carterton's 26-10 win over Pioneer in the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby match played at Carterton on Saturday.
The strong wind and squally showers which came at regular intervals were also going to mean that attractive running rugby was out of the question and it was Carterton who adapted much better to the conditions from a tactical viewpoint.
Sensibly, most of their focus in a first half which saw them with the wind and rain at their backs was on kicking deep and ensuring they kept Pioneer pinned in their own territory.
And then after turning with a halftime lead of 21-7 the concentration in the second spell was on dominating the forward exchanges to such a degree that Pioneer had little opportunity to use the weather to their advantage, and again the home team did exactly what was required of them.
There was no area of the game in which Carterton's superiority was more marked than the lineouts where Tomasi Kedrabuka was a towering figure. His influence meant Carterton had little trouble attaining their own throws in that department and he was expert at "stealing" ball from opposition throws as well. Add in some rampaging runs in broken play and some decisive tackling and Kedrabuka was player of the match by a wide margin.
Carterton also benefitted immensely from the experience and power of hooker Joe Harwood at scrum time as well as the ruck and mauls and there was a lot to like about the way No.8 Patrick Cassidy invariably got himself over the advantage line whenever he had ball in hand.
The Carterton inside back combination of Justin Lett and Jono Hurley had the responsibility of keeping their forwards on the front foot and they did that efficiently while Hurley's accurate goal kicking was a big plus as well. Lance Stevenson didn't have too many chances to stretch his legs in midfield but was always a threat when that opportunity arose.
Pioneer had good reason to think they were still a winning chance at halftime despite being 14 points in arrears but unfortunately for them they could not obtain enough second half possession to make the elements count.
Their forwards played second fiddle through most of the match despite some useful individual performances from hooker Henare, flanker Lee Ewe and No.8 Nathan Rolls and the backs were mainly seen in defensive mode,an area of play where the assertiveness of Jamie Smallman and Joe Papaali was always obvious.
Jono Hurley put Carterton ahead 6-0 with two penalty goals after first choice kicker Brock Price had missed a couple of attempts, one of them striking an upright and bouncing back into the field of play.
With Pioneer down to 14 men through having Papaali sin binned for what was deemed to be a dangerous tackle Carterton added to their lead with a Lance Stevenson try and then not long after a brief brawl which saw about half a dozen players from both sides involved Hurley kicked his third penalty to put Carterton 14-0 up. Pioneer's only try came after a rare attacking foray with Nathan Rolls the scorer and the conversion by Hoani Peacock closed the gap to Carterton 14, Pioneer 7.
The last scoring act in the second half went to the home team. No.8 Patrick Cassidy made a powerful surge which saw him dragged down close to the line. The ball was cleared and a lineout formed from which Tomasi Kedrabuka took down clean ball and Joe Harwood charged across for the try. Hurley converted with a finely-judged kick and Carterton went to halftime 21-7 up.
Pioneer reduced the gap between the two sides to 11 points when Peacock landed an early second half penalty but the last say went to Carterton with Charlie Walker-Blair scoring a try after a period of constant forward pressure.The conversion missed and Carterton won 26-10. East Coast v Martinborough
The big surprise of Saturday's round of first division games was the 27-3 win secured by East Coast over Martinborough, whose only defeat beforehand had come at the hands of competition leaders Gladstone
It was the manner of the victory which most pleased East Coast coach John Pereira after he had asked his forwards to stop "playing like backs".
"We wanted them to tighten their approach, to look after the ball better and be more physical in the tighter exchanges," Pereira said. "We wanted more driving up the middle so the backs were given a better platform.It's old-style rugby but it still works."
No.,8 Joe Feast had an outstanding game for East Coast., especially in the lineouts, and was well supported up front by Ken Scott and Craig Stewart. Zeb Aporo showed good tactical sense at first-five and Nick Olson was, as usual, a dangerous counter attacker from fullback
For Martinborough this was something of an off day with the forwards struggling to contain their East Coast counterparts and their backs being starved off quality possession. Eketahuna v Gladstone
The weather gods were on their best behaviour at Eketahuna but the home team were unable to halt Gladstone's unbeaten run, Gladstone winning 23-10. Eketahuna, did, however rock Gladstone early in the game by scoring the first try and were still well in the hunt at halftime. However, the second half saw Gladstone turn a handy territorial advantage into a comfortable winning margin.
Loose forwards Mike Spence and Steve Wilkinson were top value for Gladstone along with prop Kurt Simmonds but their backs have had better days with poor option taking too often blighting their performance. In Sully Alsop Eketahuna had a lively loosie but they too struggled to get any continuity into their back play.Greytown v Puketoi Wintery conditions made life difficult for Greytown and Puketoi in their clash at Greytown with Greytown having first use of the wind and looking in strife when halftime came with the scores locked at 7-7. However, Puketoi were unable to make good use of the elements either with the second half being scoreless.
Forwards Norm Henricksen, Josh Heglund and Brett Aitken were the pick of the Greytown team while Duncan Law, until he went off injured, and Evan Small shone for Puketoi
Short scoreboards: East Coast 27 (K.Scott, N.Olson, L.Shanks, L.McKenna tries, R.,Farrell two conversions), Martinborough 3 (K.Te Whare penalty); Greytown 7 (M.Hollis try, R.Tosswill conversion), Puketoi 7 ( J.Halshaw try, J.Liverton conversion); Carterton 26 (L.Stevenson, J.Harwood and C.Walker-Blair tries,J.Hurley two penalties, three conversions), Pioneer 10 (N.Rolls try, H.Peacock one conversion and one penalty); Gladstone 23 (B.Stevenson, D.Drummond tries, D.Grant one dropped goal, two penalties and two conversions), Eketahuna 10 (B.Percy, S.Alsop tries).