Gutsy Eke forwards bust Marist

A tenacious forward effort paved the way for Eketahuna's upset 23-17 win over Marist in their Moose Kapene Memorial Cup senior first division rugby match played at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
Aware of the danger posed by the attacking skills of the Marist backs, Eketahuna sought to achieve enough dominance up front to deny them much in the way of quality ball and they did exactly that.
It was in the rucks and mauls where the ascendancy of the Eketahuna pack was most noticeable.
Not only did they protect their own ball jealously in those phases of the game but they often turned over or spoiled Marist possession through the physicality of their approach.
In scrums and lineouts too Eketahuna's forwards generally had the edge on their Marist counterparts and there was a greater constructiveness about their work in the loose as well.
A 20-metre dash for a try which saw him brush off at least three defenders was the highlight of a standout individual performance from Eketahuna lock Dan Griffin, who was clearly the best lineout forward on the paddock and a hard grafter in all other areas of the tight game.
Prop Brendon Walker used his bulk and strength to telling effect in the scrums, hooker Ben Aldworth was never far from the centre of action and flanker Sully Alsop covered huge territory on both attack and defence.
The Eketahuna backs had only limited chances to display their attacking talents but they were always prepared to run hard and straight when the opportunity arose and there was an impressive robustness about their defence. The try second-five Jon Guillard scored late in the game to seal the win was due reward for a solid all-round performance from him and the steadiness of first-five Nicholson was readily apparent.
For Marist this was just their second defeat of the season but it severely dented their hopes of overhauling unbeaten Gladstone in the Kapene Cup competition.
Up front they had a potent counter attacker in broken play in No.8 Joe Nuku, who set up a try with one of his rampaging bursts and was always hard to stop with ball in hand, but overall their forwards lacked the intensity required to quell the fire in the Eketahuna pack The absence of experienced backs Patrick Rimene and Phil Aporo didn't help the Marist cause either although one had to be impressed by the never-say-die attitude of Nathan Couch, who was always looking to create something from first-five, and that despite usually having a couple of Eketahuna defenders in his face.
Fullback Tiari Mahuri was elusive on the counter attack but had very few chances to strut his stuff.
Pioneer v East Coast
Pioneer always looked the more dangerous attacking unit in their match with East Coast at the Park Sportsground but they had to work hard for their 16-11 win, especially in the forward exchanges where the Coasters clearly had the better of the scrums and were quick to the loose ball.
A highlight of the Pioneer effort was the powerful running in broken play situations off forwards Nathan Rolls and Mike Wilson while hooker Eruera Henare was always in the thick of things.
The pick of their backs was fullback Glen Fergusson whose hefty punts were a huge plus in defensive situations.
Hooker Dion Mitchell was an inspirational leader for East Coast and flanker Joe Feast again made a big impression with his speed to the breakdowns.Nick Olson was the pick of the backs.
Carterton v Greytown
Carterton was also made to battle hard for everything they got in their narrow 20-17 win over Greytown. Carterton did create the better scoring chances but a combination of poor option taking in the backs and a determined Greytown defence invariably kept them at bay.
It was appropriate that two of the better Carterton players in hooker Joe Harwood and lock Tomasi Kedrabuka were their try scorers and Brodie Duffin was always prominent in the loose.
Greytown competed well in all areas up front and Richard Tosswill had a sound game at first-five.
Puketoi v Martinborough
Martinborough ran in three tries to one in their convincing 32-10 beating of Puketoi The latter were typically hard-nosed in the forwards but lacked the speed and flair of Martinborough in attacking play, especially in the outside backs.
Scorers:
Eketahuna (23 (S Olds 2, D.Griffin, J.Guillard tries, C Broughton penalty); Marist 17 (N.Couch, B.Couch tries, T.Mahuri penalty and two conversions); Martinborough 32 ( R.Atkinson, R McGregor, G.Wilson tries, K.Te Whare penalty and three conversions, R.Renata penalty), Puketoi 10 (J.Liverton try, J.Hull penalty and conversion); Carterton 20 (T.Kedrabuka and J.Harwood tries, J.Hurley, penalty, two conversions and one dropped goal), Greytown 17 (T.Isaac and R.Hardman tries, R.Tosswill penalty and two conversions); Pioneer 16 (C Brown 2, N.Rolls penalty, G.Fergusson dropped goal), East Coast 11 (N.Olson try, R.Farrell two penalties).
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