Eketahuna seeking semis spot

Eketahuna have achieved their initial objective of making the top six play-offs in their debut season in the Wellington premier division women's rugby competition, and their sights have now been set on achieving a semi-final berth.
And it's a realistic aim too after Eketahuna were placed fourth at the end of the preliminary round, behind Norths, Johnsonville and Oriental-Rongotai, and will confront all of them at home in the play-offs, starting with Johnsonville tomorrow.
Conversely, they will be away to the two teams ranked below them, Stokes Valley and Old Boys University.
Coach Cory Miller is happy with the draw, knowing as he does that a win over even just one of the top three sides will be a huge assist in their bid for make the semis.
"It's always nice to know you are going into a tough game with the crowd behind you," he said.
"It's got to be worth a few points and that can often be the difference in the end."
The preliminary round match with Johnsonville saw Eketahuna compete strongly right up until the last 10 minutes when Johnsonville ran in a couple of converted tries to win by a flattering margin.
Miller recalls them as being big and mobile up front and having no shortage of pace and skills in their outside backs.
Therefore it is no surprise to learn that the emphasis for Eketahuna in training has been on their defensive strategies, particularly around the fringes of the mauls.
"We have to get to the ball carrier quickly and look to isolate her from her supports," he said.
"Making the first tackle count is vital, if their forwards get momentum they can be very hard to stop."
That being the case the key to an upset Eketahuna victory could revolve around the ability of their loose trio, Perri Tatana, Heather Edwards and Emma Aldworth, to not only dominate defensively but to also call the shots in broken play.
And Eketahuna will also be keen to move the ball away from the set pieces so that a backline which includes arguably the most potent attacking midfield in the competition, Rebecca Hull and Shakira Baker, are given every opportunity to stretch their legs.
The likely starting line-up for Eketahuna is: Maia Tua-Davidson; Mel Vainu, Shakira Baker, Rebecca Hull, Michele Clarke; Jessie Bennett; Laura Gavin; Emma Aldworth; Heather Edwards, Raylene Reiri, Andrea Taiaroa, Perri Tatana; Anna Mahe, Ted Nootai, Valerie Rimene.
Feature match in the Wairarapa-Bush premier division men's competition tomorrow is that at the Park Sportsground between Masterton Red Star and Pioneer, who lie second and third respectively on the competition table.
For Masterton Red Star this game will be largely about quelling the fire in the Nathan Rolls-led Pioneer pack so that backs with the attacking skills of Byron Karaitiana, Jordan Watene and Heemi Tupaea get the opportunity to grab the limelight That will be no easy task though as Pioneer's forwards are a rugged lot who won't mind a physical confrontation. Even a hardened punter would probably keep his money in his pocket on the likely outcome of this one.
Just up the road at Memorial Park, Greytown, who have advanced to fifth on the points table, will be desperate to beat Marist (eighth) to further boost their prospects of a semi-final spot, but here too nothing can be taken for granted.
Greytown appeals as the better all-round side but there is so much natural attacking talent in the Marist backs you simply can't discount them.
Marist are celebrating their old-timers day too and that should have a positive effect on their performance.
A Carterton side probably without star forward Tomasi Kedrabuka and star back Jono Hurley will start rank underdogs against competition leaders East Coast at Whareama but there will be no clear-cut favourites in the matches between Gladstone and Martinborough at Gladstone and Puketoi and Eketahuna at Pongaroa.
Of those four teams Gladstone will probably be the one with the most to lose from a semi-final perspective as they are seventh on the competition table at present and are at the stage where regular wins need to be achieved to keep them in contention.
Martinborough, on the other hand, are fourth so defeat for them wouldn't be the end of the world while both Eketahuna and Puketoi are so far off the pace in ninth and 10th places their semi-final hopes are slim at best.
The senior reserves competition tomorrow sees the Greytown v Marist game being transferred from Greytown to Memorial Park No 2 at 1pm while the two Wairarapa-Bush teams contesting the Manawatu colts grade, East Coast and Eketahuna, will clash at Whareama in what should be an interesting duel.