No clear favourites emerge after top-of-table clash

Gary Caffell
There is no clear favourite for this season's Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby title.
That was the consensus after defending champions East Coast beat Masterton Red Star 27-23 in their top-of-the-table clash at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
The result might have given East Coast revenge for the 15-3 defeat they suffered at the hands of Masterton Red Star earlier in the season but it certainly didn't provide a clear answer as to who is the better of the two sides.
What it did show, however, is that if they do meet in the competition decider and no one can yet be absolutely sure that will happen it will be one heck of a game with favouritism evenly spread.
East Coast had the elements in their favour in the first half but it wasn't the wind which saw them race out to a 17-0 lead, it was a mix of the attacking qualities of their outside backs and some pretty average Masterton Red Star defence.
In fact, had Nick Olson had his kicking boots with him that advantage would have been far greater as at least three penalty attempts from relatively close range were missed.
As it happened though it was Masterton Red Star who had the last say in the first half, scoring a converted try after a scramble for loose ball near the East Coast line.
At 17-7 in arrears they were down but not out.
The second spell saw Masterton Red Star calling the tune and after a couple of penalties had been kicked they were well and truly in the fight at 13-17 behind.
Importantly for East Coast they slowed their momentum with a converted try and after both teams had swapped penalty goals Masterton Red Star again reduced the margin to four points with a converted try of their own.
Eight minutes were left for further scoring action but neither side were able to add to their tally and it was East Coast who were celebrating at the game's end.
And when one reflected on the run of play and the number of scoring chances created over the full 80 minutes the conclusion was the final scoreline did fairly represent the merits of the two sides on the day.
Prominent for East Coast up front were three of their engine room Darren Walker, Willie Leota and James Balfour and there was no more punishing runner on attack than second-five Sam Mitchell, who was always willing to take the shortest route to the goalline.
Halfback Luke Shanks and first-five Zeb Aporo were a sound combination and fullback Nick Olson was typically inventive on the counter attack.
Livewire flanker Chris Senior had his usually busy game for Masterton Red Star and others to shine in the pack were Tim Hintz Kyle Karaitiana and Stu Waipuka. At first-five Byron Karaitiana generally did the right thing at the right time while Chris Osborne invariably made space for himself on the wing.
Nick Olson, Sam Mitchell, Peter Gray and Luke Shanks scored tries for East Coast and Nick Olson kicked two conversions and one penalty.
Trevell Rimene and Chris Osborne scored tries for Masterton Red Star and Byron Karaitiana kicked two conversions and three penalties.
Gladstone continued their late push for a semi-final berth with a narrow 8-6 win over Greytown at Gladstone.
New Wairarapa-Bush captain Kurt Simmonds scored the only try of the game for Gladstone and Jason Kjestrup kicked a penalty.
Senoa Isaac kicked two penalties for Greytown.
Marist also kept their semi-final hopes alive with a surprisingly comfortable 28-0 win over Carterton at Carterton.
Daniel Blong, Shane Lewis (2) and D. Graham scored the Marist tries and James Goodger kicked two penalties and one conversion.
Pioneer maintained third place on the competition table by beating Eketahuna 24-12 at Eketahuna.
Tommy Harmon, Nathan Rolls and K. Namana scored tries for Pioneer and David Te Rito kicked three conversions and one penalty. John Guillard and Chris Terry were the Eketahuna try scorers and S. Evan kicked a conversion.
Martinborough didn't have every thing their own way against Puketoi at Martinborough but ran out winners by 15-0. Thomas Te Kani and M. Thompson scored tries for Martinborough and Greg Wilson landed one conversion and one penalty.
Unofficial competition points are:
East Coast 57, Masterton Red Star 50, Pioneer 41, Martinborough 38, Gladstone 35, Marist 31, Greytown 30, Carterton 28, Eketahuna 16, Puketoi 9.