Greytown forwards pave way to victory

Greytown's forwards were asked by team management to "stand up and be counted" in their Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby championship match with Puketoi at Pongaroa on Saturday and they were the catalyst to their team's comfortable 25-6 victory.
Coach Stacey Grant said Greytown went into the match well aware the havoc the rugged Puketoi pack could create if the Greytown forwards did not show substantial improvement on their effort against East Coast the previous weekend.
"The Coast boys pushed and shoved us around all over the place and we made it pretty clear to our guys that we didn't want that to happen again," Grant said. "It was time for the forwards to stand up and be counted and they did that."
Young prop Daniel Gilmour was a standout player in the Greytown pack and he was given strong support by Doug McLennnan, Norm Henricksen, Brett Aitken and Johnny Avatea. The Isaac brothers, Tavita and Senoa, were always dangerous in the backs and wing Thomas Te Kani scored two of his side's five tries, none of which were converted. In fact, it was a bad day for Greytown with the boot with something like nine attempts at goal being missed.
Puketoi went into the game with high hopes of success but with their forwards being contained all they had show for their efforts at the end of the 80 minutes was a couple of penalty goals.
Carterton did not have everything their own way in their 26-18 win over Martinborough at Martinborough.
An evenly-contested first half ended with Carterton up by just 10-3 and struggling to get any continuity into their game against a Martinborough side who scavenged effectively, especially in broken play situations.
The first 30 minutes or so of the second half though did belong to Carterton and they got out to a 26-6 lead before Martinborough made a late rally which almost grabbed them a bonus point for finishing within seven or less points.
Loose forwards Reuben Daysh and Tomasi Kedrabuka were always prominent for Carterton with Kedrabuka continuing to enjoy his move to the No.8 spot and lock Hoani Wano was a grafter in the tight. Their backs have had better days and were probably outshone by a Martinborough rearguard in which Ryan Renata and Greg Wilson took the eye.
Gladstone and East Coast had a battle royal at Whareama with Gladstone sneaking home 10-7 in a match which saw the teams manage just the one try apiece.
The East Coast pack actually had a slight edge over Gladstone in the scrums thank to some good work by stand-in hooker Nick Taylor and prop Chris Darling but it was pretty much even in all other departments.
In the backs too there was little in it with midfielder Mike Shaw scoring a good try for Gladstone and always looking solid and Luke Shanks running strongly for East Coast on the wing.
A penalty try late in the game played a key part in Marist's narrow 22-17 success over Eketahuna at Eketahuna. The try was awarded when Marist lock James Goodger looked set to score only to be taken out by a high tackle.
Marist coach Sid Tatana admitted his side was a "bit lucky" to come away with a win, saying Eketahuna had taken the game to his team up front and Marist had struggled to counter them. "The scoreboard will show we won but there was nothing in it," he said. "It could have gone either way."
Centre Byron Karaitiana was one of Marist's better performers along with Ben Couch, who is now playing on the flank rather than in midfield, and No.8 Joe Nuku. Props Jesse Williams and Brendan Walker starred for Eketahuna.
Short scoreboards:-
GREYTOWN 25 (T.Te Kani 2, N.Henricksen, M.Liumaihetau and T.Whyte tries), PUKETOI 6 (J.Ellmers two penalty goals); MARIST 22 (M.Gleeson 2 tries, penalty try; P.Rimene two conversions and a penalty), EKETAHUNA 17 (B.Percy, B.Nicholson and S.Olds tries; S.Olds one conversion); GLADSTONE 10 (M.Shaw try, D.Grant one penalty and one conversion); EAST COAST 7 (C.Starling try, N.Olson conversion); CARTERTON 26 (T.Kedrabuka, C.Walker-Blair tries; J.Hurley two conversions and four penalty goals); MARTINBOROUGH 18 (R.Atkinson and R Rena tries; G Wilson one conversion and two penalties).