Puketoi celebrate upset win

Running a pub and coaching a rugby team don't always go hand in hand.
Paul Wootton, proprietor of the Pongaroa Hotel and coach of the Puketoi side which contests the Wairarapa-Bush premier division competition, will testify to that.
Wootton would have liked nothing better than to be alongside his clubmates celebrating their upset 24-13 win over Carterton at Pongaroa on Saturday but instead he was behind the bar serving them well-deserved refreshments right up until the early hours of yesterday morning.
"I basically couldn't even have a beer, that's how hard it was," Wootton said.
"But I guess the boys made up for my bad luck, they were pretty happy for sure."
Making Wootton's misfortune worse was that not only had his team just chalked up their first win for the 2009 season he himself had come on as a replacement in the second half in the unaccustomed position of flanker and actually scored a try.
"I don't know who was more shocked, me or our supporters," Wootton quipped when reflecting on his five pointer.
Wootton was not altogether, surprised, however, that Puketoi had beaten a Carterton side sitting near the top of the competition table, simply because they had been competing well enough in recent games to suggest a win was close at hand.
"Two or three times we've either been in front, or close to it, at halftime and then lost the plot & this time we stuck at it to the end."
Puketoi led all the way with an early try followed by a penalty putting them 8-0 up and while Carterton did reduce the lead to 8-6 that was as close as they got on the scoreboard.
No.8 Duncan Law had a huge game for Puketoi, impressing with a high workrate on both attack and defence, and hooker Stu Saunders was another shining light in a pack which probably had the edge on the Carterton eight in the possession stakes.
Derek Morse at first-five and Simon Finnie at centre were good value in the backs, along with Jason Liverton, the usual first-five who turned out at fullback and scored 19 of his team's points.
Liverton and Wootton were the try scorers for Puketoi with Liverton adding four penalties and one conversion.
Jason Scott scored a try for Carterton, Reece Lett kicked two penalties and Jono Hurley kicked a penalty goal.
Puketoi's defeat of Carterton was not, however, the only surprise in premier division play on Saturday. Greytown too came up with a surprise win, theirs being a 17-13 success over the hitherto joint competition leaders, Masterton Red Star.
Greytown rushed out to a 14-0 lead in the first 20 minutes at which stage referee Dean Goodin retired with a hamstring injury but then had to withstand a solid Masterton Red Star comeback which saw them crawl their way back to a 14-13 deficit before Greytown managed a late penalty to seal the win.
Flanker Tommy Sargent had a lively game for Greytown as did No.8 Johnny Avatea while the pick of their backs was midfielder Julian Cosgrove.
Loosie Chris Senior was player of the match for Masterton Red Star and Jake Bubb was another to impress up front.
Sargent scored two tries for Greytown and Senoa Isaac kicked two conversions and one penalty goal.
Byron Karaitiana scored all Masterton Red Star's points with one try, one conversion and two penalties.
East Coast got more than they bargained for in beating Marist 23-15 in their premier division match at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday, a win which took the Coasters to a clear lead on the competition table.
In one of the more entertaining fixtures played at headquarters this season, Marist defied their ordinary recent form in giving every bit as good as they received and the losing margin did not do justice to the closeness of the contest.
East Coast supporters will still be wondering, however, why they decided to play the helter-skelter style of rugby which was always likely to suit a Marist team short of experience but certainly not of youthful exuberance.
By constantly looking to spread the ball wide from both set piece and broken play situations East Coast played pretty much into Marist's hands as the last thing they wanted was an arm wrestle up front.
Had that transpired the greater bulk and physicality of the East Coast forwards would probably have steam-rolled them to a much more comfortable victory than what was the case on the day.
But with both teams intent on attacking from here, there and everywhere Marist were able to better exploit the mobility of their forwards and their pack actually came out of the game with as many plusses as did their East Coast counterparts.
Lock James Balfour, flanker Joe Feast and No.8 TK Karaitiana starred in the East Coast pack and the inside combination of Zeb Aporo at halfback and Sam Mitchell at first-five also shaped well.
Marist had two of the better forwards on the paddock in James Goodger and Geordie Walden while Daniel Blong and Murray Gleeson were always full of running in the backs.
Zeb Aporo, Damien Paku and Sam Mitchell scored tries for East Coast and Nick Olson kicked two penalties and one conversion.
Daniel Blong and Caleb Vitale scored tries for Marist, Kahu Matenga kicked one penalty and James Goodger kicked one conversion.
Pioneer kept their semi-final hopes very much alive with a narrow 15-13 win over Gladstone. Joe Papaali and Nathan Rolls scored tries for Pioneer with Rolls landing one penalty and David Te Riko kicking a conversion.
Scott McBride and Tom Fleming scored Gladstone's tries and Jason Kjestrup kicked one conversion.
Martinborough continued their solid form with a convincing 28-12 defeat of Eketahuna.
Warren Ireland, Jared Hawkins, Adam Marshall and Greg Dennes scored tries for Martinborough and Quentin Larkin kicked two penalties and a conversion.
Joe Hull and P.Hawke scored tries for Eketahuna and Graeme Cremen kicked a conversion.
A brief second half brawl which involved reserves and spectators as well as players marred East Coast's otherwise impressive 22-12 win over Levin Athletic in their Manawatu colts competition match played at Memorial Park on Saturday.
It ended with one spectator being red carded and two players one from each side sin binned.
A late try sealed the victory for East Coast in a match in which one of the star players was Levin Athletic first-five Brent Tucker, who has only the one arm.
It didn't stop him from making several strong bursts and linking well with his supports.
Overall, however, East Coast had the edge in the forwards and the backs and their winning margin was a fair enough reflection of the merits of the two sides.
Eketahuna were beaten by competition favourites Norths 17-10 in their Wellington premier division women's rugby match on Saturday but it was the first time this season the powerful Norths side had not picked up a bonus point for scoring four or more tries.
Eketahuna actually led early in the second half and it was only in the latter stages that Norths managed to gain any sort of ascendancy. Midfield back Rebecca Hull was outstanding for Eketahuna, along with flanker Hera Edwards.
Their points came from a Raylene Reiri try and a conversion and a penalty by Hull.