East Coast in semis after win

East Coast is the only team to be guaranteed a semifinals spot in the Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby competition, with just one series of pool matches still to be played.
Their commanding 51-7 win over Marist on Saturday took East Coast to 18 points in Pool A, enough to see them through to the semis no matter what the result of their encounter with Greytown next weekend.
The scenario is somewhat different for the four remaining Pool A sides though with Pioneer (14 points), Greytown (11) and Martinborough (11) all still vying for the other semis spot available. Marist with just one point are already out of contention.
As it happens Pioneer and Martinborough meet in the last of the pool games at Martinborough and the result of that clash seems almost certain to decide which of them continue in the race for the Tui Cup, providing Greytown don't pull off a major upset and beat East Coast.
In Pool B too there are three sides battling for two semifinal spots. Front-runners Carterton lost to Gladstone 37-32 on Saturday but still lead the points table with 15 points, followed by Gladstone (12), Eketahuna (11), Featherston (5) and Masterton Red Star (1).
The draw for next weekend suggests Carterton and Gladstone should retain the top two places with Carterton sure to start hot favourites to beat Marist at home and Gladstone likewise to beat Featherston at Featherston. However, if either of them trip up, Eketahuna could leapfrog them by beating Masterton Red Star at Memorial Park.
Saturday's penultimate round of pool games saw three of the premier division matches played in Masterton and all of them produced decisive winning margins.
It would be fair to say, however, Pioneer were somewhat flattered by their 26-0 defeat of Greytown at the Park Sportsground with Greytown, actually sharing the honours in terms of territory and possession but lacking the finishing skills of their opposition.
It was to Greytown's cost that when they were on hard attack they often looked to move the ball wide rather than utilise their greatest attribute which was the power of their forwards on the "pick and go" and short passing rushes. In Brett Aitken, Kurt Simmonds, Johnny Avatea and Tana Isaac, they had several players up front clearly capable of making decent ground with ball in hand.
The struggle for forward supremacy was, in fact, an even one with Pioneer particularly impressive in broken play situations where the strong running of Lee Ewe, Mike Harmon, Ihe Namana, Porky Henare and Nathan Rolls (when he joined the action at halftime) was always obvious.
In the backs, it was Pioneer who looked the more dangerous in an attacking sense. The inside combination of Victor Thompson and Tipi Haira called the shots effectively and midfielders Hoani Peacock and Damien Paku and fullback Joe Papaali were quick to take advantage of any space provided for them.
In Blake Lyford, Greytown had a young halfback who read the play well and Laurence Matthews was sound at first-five but, overall, they lacked the spark of their Pioneer counterparts.
Ihe Namana, Joe Papaali and Nathan Rolls scored the Pioneer tries and Tipi Haira added one conversion and three penalties.
East Coast ran in seven tries in dismissing Marist 51-7 at Memorial Park in a game which saw both sides look to play an expansive style of rugby, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. Jordan Carroll, Sam Mitchell, Jesse McGilvary, Matt O'Connor (2) and Nic Olson (2) were the try-scorers for East Coast with Carroll kicking one conversion and Dan Porter kicking four conversions and two penalties. Dennis Fiedelberg scored the Marist try and James Goodger kicked a conversion.
Running rugby was also the order of the day in the Martinborough v Masterton Red Star fixture at the Colombo Road grounds with 10 tries being scored, nine of them to a Martinborough side whose forwards made a big impression with their mobility in broken play. Keiran Te Whare, Jared Hawkins, Josh Hawkins, Toby Rowland, Adam Marshall (2), Daniel George, Wilbur Davies and Quentin Steiner all got five-pointers for Martinborough and Greg Dennis kicked four conversions. Tim Grooby scored the Masterton Red Star try and Matt Henderson landed a conversion.
Gladstone and Carterton had their expected battle royal with Gladstone picking up a crucial 37-32 win to keep their semifinal hopes well and truly alive. Inia Katia and P Oosterhof scored two tries for Gladstone with Bevan Morland and Corey Reid managing one apiece. John Bailey added two conversions and a penalty. Tomasi Kedrabuka, Brock Price, Cody Whittaker and Deon Field scored the Carterton tries and Jared Nyssen kicked three conversions and two penalties.
Eketahuna had too many guns for Featherston, running in 10 tries in their 58-0 victory. Cam Lawrence (2), Robbie Anderson (2), Wiremu Grace, M. Nuimusudroka (2), Luke Mahoney, Rupeni Temani and Johan Van Vliet scored the Eketahuna tries and Anderson kicked four conversions.