Marist put favourite to sword

Marist comprehensively ended Martinborough's unbeaten run in the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby competition on Saturday, winning their Memorial Park clash by a decisive 24-0.
It was a scoreline which aptly demonstrated the superiority achieved by Marist in both territory and possession .
They were put to the sword by Martinborough in the opening 10 minutes, and to a slightly lesser extent, the last 10 minutes, but in between times looked clearly the better team, particularly in the backs where the return from injury of Nathan Couch at second-five added considerable sting to their attacking play.
Several times during the course of the match Couch penetrated the first line of defence with his hard, straight running and he generally linked well with his supports. His robustness on defence was also a key factor in the Marist win.
Couch was not the only current Wairarapa-Bush player returning to active duty for Marist. Utility back Jaco Pieterse, who has also been battling injury, came on at halfback in the second half and combined well with first-five Patrick Rimene, whose tactical direction was astute and who was his usual accurate self in the goal kicking department.
The home team also benefitted from the powerful running from fullback of Phil Aporo, especially in broken play, and from the soundness of Ben Couch at centre.
There were some strong performances from Marist up front as well. Corey Reid was a lively and resourceful flanker, Tom Severn a regular attainer of lineout ball and and Kyle Karaitiana a hard-working hooker.
The one disappointment for Marist from the game would have been their inability to secure a bonus point.They fell one short of the necessary four tries , a frustrating statistic considering their preponderence of quality possession.
Martinborough appealed as a dangerous attacking unit whenever they put the ball through the hands, but too often they were guilty of aimless kicking, a criminal offence against a team like Marist who have the backs to make big metreage out of any counter attacking opportunity.
There was though a look of genuine class about much of the play of first-five Ryan Renata and other backs to take the eye were second-five Owen Coulson and fullback Ayden Lambert.
The pick of a Martinborough pack which operated in fits and starts were No.8 Josh Hawkins, lock Matt O'Neale and hooker Daniel Hawkins.
Geordie Walden, Patrick Rimene and Corey Reid scored tries for Marist and Rimene added one penalty and three conversions.
Wing Jordan Fox and No.8 Troy Mason both scored a hat-trick of tries as their Pioneer team beat Masterton Red Star 50-30 in an entertaining spectacle at the Jean Street grounds in Masterton.
Pioneer were kept honest by Stars in the forward exchanges, especially the scrums, but were always dangerous in broken play, an area in which dynamic flanker Nathan Rolls was prominent. He was well supported by Mason while Pioneer backs to take the eye were wingers Fox and Adam Wichman.
Masterton Red Star battled away gamely throughout the match with Brent Loader and Russell Van Dieman spearheading a solid forward effort and Oka Logaloga and Epe Alatise showing speed and determination on the wings.
Jordan Fox (3), Troy Mason (3), Tereina Henare and Adam Wichman scored tries for Pioneer with Ben Fox kicking three conversions and Glen Ferguson kicking two conversions. Try scorers for Masterton Red Star were Oka Logaloga (2), Epe Alatise and Russell Van Dieman while Chris Osborne, who was sound at first-five, kicked two penalties and two conversions.
Tight defence was a key component in Gladstone's 8-6 win over Carterton in their match played at Carterton.
Carterton led 6-0 at halftime with first-five Neil Rodger having landed a dropped goal and a penalty but it was Gladstone who did all the second half scoring, fullback Jaco Uys scoring a try and kicking a penalty.
Uys had another fine game for Gladstone, impressing with the coolness on defence and his elusivess on the counter attack, while up front it was hard-working Steve Wilkinson who led the way.
For Carterton it was their first defeat of this season's competition and they would probably be blaming an inability to turn try scoring chances into points on the board as the major factor in their loss.
The slickness of their backs played a big part in East Coast's 37-0 victory over Puketoi at Pongaroa.
Puketoi made a decent battle of it in the forward exchanges but with first-five Te Maika Mason again calling the shots in impressive fashion the East Coast backs regularly cut loose.
Apart from Mason it was pacy winger Nick Olson who took the eye for the Coasters and Joseph Navor made a good fist of his unaccustomed role of halfback. The pick of the forwards were young locks Joe Wyeth and Ken Scott, prop Mike Peacock and No.8 Mike Jackson.
Olson scored two of the East Coast tries with others going to Mike Jackson, Joseph Navor, Lee Rongonui and James Hay. Te Maika Mason kicked two conversions and a penalty.
Greytown-Tuhirangi inflicted the first defeat on Eketahuna this season when they scrambled home 15-14 in their clash played at Eketahuna on Friday night. The combined side got out to a 12-3 lead but Eketahuna fought back strongly in the second half to make for an exciting finish.
Try scorers for Greytown-Tuhirangi were Isaac and Bruce Mckenzie while Brendan Walker scored two tries for Eketahuna.