Last chance for Eketahuna, Puketoi

Eketahuna and Puketoi will take centre stage when preliminary round matches in the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division championship draw to a close tomorrow.
They are the only two of the nine participating teams still to book a place in the quarter-finals and this will, of course, be their last opportunity to do so.
A betting man would have Eketahuna odds on favourite to claim the eighth spot for the quarter-finals which get under way next weekend.
Firstly, they already have two more competition points than Puketoi, and, secondly, past results would suggest they have the slightly easier draw, playing Pioneer at Park Sportsground while Puketoi is away to Carterton.
Neither team can expect any favours from their opposition, however, as they both might need to win to keep their chances of a home quarter-final alive.
And Carterton, especially, will also have it in mind that a big victory to them could greatly boost their chances of a home semi-final as well a little further down the track.
Eketahuna's tactical approach against Pioneer is sure to revolve around achieving enough dominance up front to largely nullify the influence of the pacy and inventive Pioneer backs.
That won't be easy for a Pioneer pack in which the likes of Cliff Graham, Mike Harmon and Nathan Rolls have been prominent has made steady progress as the season has gone on.
They are though best suited when play loosens up and they can take advantage of their running skills so the onus will be on the Eketahuna tight five to call the tune in the darker recesses of the forward game, areas like scrum, lineout and maul.
One imagines too that the Eketahuna loosies Sully Alsop, Steve Olds and Dan Udy will need to be right on the ball too. Their job will be to beat Rolls and company to the breakdowns and to place constant pressure on Pioneer inside backs like Hoani Peacock and Jamie Smallman who can be lethal if allowed room in which to move.
Going on the form book Pioneer should win but of all the matches to be played tomorrow this is the one with most scope for an upset.
Puketoi's prospects of upstaging Carterton, on the other hand, don't look particularly bright. Nothing is surer than they will play with typical grit and determination but against a Carterton side which, on paper at least, looks stronger in practically every department it would be a shock of massive proportions if Puketoi managed to pull this one off.
Marist, like Carterton, will have possible home quarter and semi-final matches very much in mind when they take on Greytown at Greytown but it would be folly for them to expect anything but a difficult assignment here.
Greytown haven't had the most successful of seasons by any stretch of the imagination but they have enough quality individuals at back and forward to give anyone a run for their money and you get the feeling the best is still to be seen of them.
Gladstone is the only team going into tomorrow's play already assured of a home quarter-final and that could perhaps make them at least a little vulnerable in their match against Martinborough at Martinborough, especially if they elect to spell some of their key players with the idea of keeping them fresh and injury free for the following weekend.
Martinborough have been heading in the right direction under the coaching of John Danger and if they can apply their normal hustle and bustle to this particular game Gladstone might need to dig deeper than generally anticipated to maintain their unbeaten record in preliminary round play.
While on the subject of first division games a bouquet is due the Wairarapa-Bush union's council of clubs for accepting that the format for this year's competition badly needs revamping.
They have given all clubs one month to forward submissions for next season's format to a special sub-committee who will scrutinise them and then make a recommendation to the council as to what the new format should be.
The big hope is that during this process clubs will put their own interests on the back burner and look at what is best for Wairarapa-Bush rugby as a whole.
And if that means making tough decisions like perhaps reducing the number of teams in the senior first division series to provide for a more meaningful competition than so be it.
Don't hold your breath though!
The Manawatu colts competition sees East Coast having won three of their five games and sitting on 12pts. Ahead of them are Freyberg 21pts, Bush Colts 18pts and Marist 17pts and equal with them on 12pts are Varisty K. All those other teams have, however, played six matches which gives a better perspective to East Coast's current standing.
Tomorrow is D-Day for the Eketahuna women's team which will take on Linton Army in the grand final of their Manawatu competition at the Arena in Palmerston North.
Having watched the last meeting between these two teams when Linton Army sealed victory with a late try there is no doubt in this writer's mind that Eketahuna are capable of turning the tables on this occasion.
The lively loose trio of Perri Tatana, Trisanna Campbell and Emma Aldworth is one of Eketahuna's biggest attributes and the more they impose themselves on the game the better for their side. It will be vital to the Eketahuna cause too that hard-running backs like Rebecca Hull, Diamond Pauli and Michele Clarke are kept busy in an attacking sense as the Linton Army defence gives the impression of being somewhat shaky out wide.
An extra incentive for the Eketahuna players is that several of them are in the reckoning for places in the Manawatu NPC team which will be named at the conclusion of tomorrow's match. Nothing will assist their chances of selection more than bringing the trophy home.
Go Eketahuna Go!!!!!!!