Gladstone give old-timers something to celebrate

Gladstone celebrated their old-timers day with a convincing 23-7 win over Pioneer in the Wairarapa-Bush senior first championship rugby match played at Gladstone on Saturday.
The home team's game plan revolved around dominating Pioneer up front with the idea of nullifying the attacking potential of their backs and coach Steve Thompson was pleased with the way they responded to that challenge.
"The forwards laid the platform for the win, they got stuck in right from the word go and that's what they needed to do," Thompson said.
Steve Wilkinson was a standout in the hard-working Gladstone pack with Kurt Simmonds and Tim Fleming also having big games. Halfback Shaun Bicknell and first-five Dean Grant varied play well in the inside backs and Mike Shaw was always robust in midfield.
Pioneer coach Richard Carroll was unhappy with the intensity of his team, saying they had a good first 10 minutes but had then gone off the boil.
"I don't know why it was but they lost their hunger and never got it back," he said.
"It was a pretty forgettable game as far as we were concerned."
Nathan Rolls and Mike Harmon were two of the better Pioneer forwards while Ronald Mita, who started on the wing and moved to second-five, was solid in the backs.
Tries came in bucket loads when Carterton beat Eketahuna 51-25 in an entertaining fixture at Eketahuna.
Centre Charlie Walker-Blair and wing Lance Stevenson both chalked up a hat-trick of tries for Carterton with Brock Price scoring a seventh while a depleted but gritty Eketahuna side ran in four tries as well.
There was any amount of physical endeavour in the forward exchanges where Tomasi Kedrabuka, playing at No.8, rather than his usual position of lock, roamed far and wide effectively for Carterton and loosies Sully Alsop and Dan Udy got through a power of work for Eketahuna.
Carterton clearly had the more attacking thrust in the backs. Walker-Blair was always a handful for the Eketahuna defence whenever the ball was moved wide as was Stevenson while first-five Jono Hurley further advanced his claims for representative selection with another tidy display.
Again too Hurley's accurate boot played a big part in the end result with four penalties and two conversions giving him a personal tally of 16 points.
Centre Greg Wilson scored all the points for Martinborough in their hard-fought 10-6 win over Puketoi, converting his own try and kicking a penalty.
This was a game as tight as the final score would indicate with Martinborough coach John Danger delighted with the way his forwards, led by Sam Walsh and Jared Hawkins, gutsed it out against a Puketoi pack which Danger labels as tough and uncompromising as any in the first division series.
Wilson, who always looked dangerous in attacking situations, was the pick of the Martinborough backs while first-five Jason Liverston shone for Puketoi.
East Coast fullback Nic Olson has made a name for himself as a regular try scorer on the club scene but it was in a different mode where he took the limelight in his side's 15-8 win over Greytown on Saturday.
Olson kicked five penalties to give his team, which only had 17 players stripped because of absenteeism mainly caused by the 'flu bug, the edge in a close match which was marred by basic handling and passing lapses.
Front rowers Dion Mitchell, Darren Walker and Chris Darling anchored an impressive East Coast scrum while the standout for Greytown was Tavita Isaac, who looked the most dangerous attacking back on the paddock.
Short scoreboards:-.
GLADSTONE 23 (M.Shaw, B.Stevenson and T.Fleming tries, D.Drummond one conversion and two penalties), PIONEER 7 (N.Rolls try, H.Peacock conversion); CARTERTON 51 (C.Walker Blair 3, L. Stevenson 3 and B Price tries; J Hurley four penalties and two conversions), EKETAHUNA 25 (B.Walker 2, J Hayman 2 tries; S Olds one penalty and one conversion); MARTINBOROUGH 10 (G.Wilson try, conversion and penalty), PUKETOI 6 (J.Hull two penalties); EAST COAST 15 (N.Olson five penalties), GREYTOWN 8 (L.Matthews try, M.Hollis penalty).
Championship points:
Gladstone 8, Marist 8, Carterton 8, Martinborough 8, East Coast 8, Puketoi 2, Eketahuna 1, Greytown 1, Pioneer 1.