A well-fought battle between Napier Old Boys Marist and Taradale saw the Maroon's clinch another Maddison Trophy victory on Saturday. Photo / Connull Lang
A well-fought battle between Napier Old Boys Marist and Taradale saw the Maroon's clinch another Maddison Trophy victory on Saturday. Photo / Connull Lang
The final scoreline of 28-15 capped off a stellar run for the club, having previously achieved 15 wins with at least four tries scored in each game. It’s the Maroons’ third cup title in four years.
Penalties seemed to be the name of the game when it came to Taradale’s Saturday success, with Trinity Spooner-Neera clinching seven himself, along with one conversion.
A 53-minute yellow card for Hunter Morrison in the second half had the potential to throw a spanner in the works and allowed Old Boys Marist to regain some momentum, but two penalties after from Spooner-Neera helped cement the Taradale victory.
Taradale coach Namatahi Waa said he was “over the moon” with the win and proud of his teams’ efforts throughout the season.
“I’ve been proud of them since pre-season. We turned up pre-season and put the mahi in, and it’s carried on throughout the whole season,” Waa said.
“Every game, you go into the mindset that it’s finals foot from the first game in the Nash Cup to the Maddison finals. We played like every game was a final.”
He said a big thing the team would work on was discipline, mainly when it came to penalties.
“One thing I would say was our boys had the attitude and the intent when it came to getting out there with all they had.”
Old Boys Marist player Josh McIntyre charges down a kick from Taradale's Trinity Spooner-Neera. Photo / Connull Lang
Two great tries from Kere Penitito and a conversion and penalty from Napier Old Boys Marist coach Ellery Wilson gave his team a fighting chance and highlighted their position as season standouts.
“I’m really proud of the boys how we continued to fight back after Taradale kicked a lot of penalties,” Wilson said.
“I think we were probably the closest someone has pushed [Taradale] all year.”
He credited his forward pack, which “muscled up pretty well”, with Ricky Hayes and Kade Manuel-Green also noted for their standout performances.
It’s the 10th time Taradale have won a final in the modern era of the Maddison Trophy, following victories in 1993, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2021 and 2022.
They also beat rivals Napier Old Boys Marist 36-0 in the Nash Cup round in April and 52-24 in the Maddison Trophy round-robin stages last month.
Old Boys Marist player Te Kahika Thompson misses a tackle on Taradale No 22 Cornelius Mienie. Photo / Connull Lang
In other finals results around Hawke’s Bay, Tapuae won the Lee Bros Shield match 13-5 against Gisborne YMP, and Wairoa Athletic clinched the Lew Patterson Cup 23-22 against Nūhaka.
The Tapuae women were beaten by Gisborne YMP 19-12 in the women’s matches. In the First Division men’s grades, CHB Colliers managed to beat M.A.C Enviro 31-24.
In Division 2, Ōtāne Country won against the Napier Old Boys Marist Premier Reserves, with the final scoreline sitting at 25-16.
McLean Park in Napier wasn’t ready for club finals rugby this weekend after a period of planned re-sowing, so games were held at other grounds across Hawke’s Bay.
