Fijian flair powers Gladstone

Their Fijian connection played a huge part in Gladstone's comfortable 45-20 win over Masterton Red Star in their Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby match played at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
Halfback Inia Katia was the star of the show as he regularly threaded his way past would-be defenders and both midfielder Michael Vuicikau and wing Joseva Naivalu were lethal support acts.
Unlike the elusive Katia - whose speed of passing also impressed - Vuicikau tended to take the more direct route on his attacking forays and generally managed to crash his way well beyond the advantage line while Naivalu effectively utilised his imposing mix of pace and flair.
Hardy front rowers Bevan Morland and Joe Nuku were solid performers up front for Gladstone and both lock Andrew Potts and flanker Lance Harris were also prominent.
Masterton Red Star were a gutsy lot. They lacked the firepower in the backs to really trouble Gladstone but they competed strongly for possession in all avenues of the forward game, especially in a second half when they scored all but three of their points. Typically the experience and guile of flanker Chris Senior and lock Jake Bubb was always evident while Matt Henderson and Heemi Tupaea were the pick of the backs.
Naivalu (2), Nuku, Katia, Nuicikau and Langman scored the tries for Gladstone and John Bailey kicked two conversions and two penalties. Kane Thompson, Sele Tugaga and Ulutua scored the Masterton Red Star tries and Henderson kicked a penalty and a conversion.
Marist ran in six tries - most of them from attacks starting inside their own territory - in their 44-0 win over Featherston at Memorial Park No2.
The margin between the two sides at the game's end flattered Marist to some degree as Featherston earned themselves a fair share of quality possession but a lack of precision in their finishing work meant some prime scoring opportunities came to nothing.
In-form flanker James Goodger had a big say in Marist's effort. He was a regular winner of lineout ball, scored two tries through his ability to put himself in the right place at the right time and again showed himself to be a more-than-useful goal kicker, landing four conversions and two penalties for a personal tally of 24 points.
Lock Keiran O'Brien, hooker Leuma Wilson and flanker Corey Miller were other Marist forwards to shine while halfback Dennis Feidelberg provided swift service to a backline in which first-five Murray Gleeson and midfielder Shane Lewis were the stars. Forwards Pete Jones and Tommy Sargent both impressed for Featherston.
Goodger (2), O'Brien, Gleeson, Daniel Blong and Lawrence Titter scored tries for Marist and Goodger kicked four conversions and two penalties.
East Coast already had the Kapene Cup in safe keeping for being the leading side at the end of one complete round of matches when they took on Greytown and they finished that competition in style with a 36-10 victory. Zeb Aporo, Dan Porter and Jesse McGilivary all scored two tries for East Coast and Porter kicked three conversions. Brett Aitken and PJ Freeman scored the Greytown tries.
Pioneer conceded the runner-up spot in the Kapene Cup to Gladstone when they suffered a 28-10 away loss to Eketahuna.
The home team had the better of the forward battle and also managed to restrict the attacking talents of the Pioneer backs. Rupeni Temani, Luke Mahoney and Hamish Monk scored tries for Eketahuna and Joe Hull kicked three penalties and one conversion. Joe Papaali scored the sole Pioneer try and Tipi Haira kicked two penalties.
Unofficial Kapene Cup points: East Coast 41, Gladstone 32, Pioneer 30, Eketahuna 26, Marist 25, Carterton and Martinborough 24, Masterton Red Star 10, Greytown 7 and Featherston 0.
The main premier division championship kicks off next weekend with all matches being played at Memorial Park as a feature of the WBRFU"s 125th anniversary celebrations.
Teams will be divided into two pools of five depending on their Kapene Cup placings. Seeds one, three, five, seven and nine will be in one pool and seeds two, four, six, eight and 10 in the other.
Kapene Cup competition points will not count towards the main championship.