Coach upbeat as cup hopes vanish

Hopes of competing in this season's Meads Cup have disappeared for Wairarapa-Bush despite the 33-14 victory over East Coast in the Heartlands championship at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday, thereby consigning the home side to another challenge for the Lochore Cup.
Wairarapa-Bush were relying on Poverty Bay upsetting North Otago over the weekend to keep their Meads Cup hopes alive but this did not eventuate, with North Otago coming out comfortable winners.
Coach Kelvin Tantrum was quick to take the positives from the game against East Coast despite the patchy performance.
"The first objective was to secure the five points on offer and we did that," Tantrum said.
"That was very pleasing. I was also pleased with our defensive patterns which were sound. And there was a big improvement in first up tackles," he said.
"We conceded one rather soft try but apart from that our line wasn't really threatened. We kept our shape pretty well."
Tantrum was also pleased with the set piece play.
"We dominated in that area, we were efficient," he said.
"We collected all our own lineout ball and managed to snaffle some of theirs as well."
At the same time he acknowledged his team had lost some of its structure during the second half which saw the momentum pass to the visitors.
"We started playing as individuals after the break and not so much as a team.
"It was hard for the guys not to think the game was won by half time. We were on a roll."
The break didn't seem to favour the home side in terms of continuity of play. It was possibly one whistle they didn't want to hear.
Tantrum also admitted frustration was setting in during the second half.
"The opposition was doing everything they could to stop the flow of the ball which didn't allow us to build up any continuity of play. Then a few errors crept in."
This coming weekend's home fixture against North Otago will be one where the error count will need to be kept to an absolute minimum.