Red Star bumble but deserve win over Marist

Their 32-24 winning margin may have been a trifle flattering but Masterton Red Star did deserve victory in their Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby match with Marist at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
A bumbling first half performance in which their backs dropped enough ball to last them for the rest of the season saw Masterton Red Star in the perilous position of trailing by 17-7 at the halftime break.
At that point their prospects of making it three wins from as many matches did not look particularly bright although there was always the suspicion that if ever their rearguard started to function anything like effectively they could at least make a close go of it.
Well, as it transpired they did even better than that with the backs complementing the hard grind of their forwards to a much greater extent in the second 40 minutes, and Marist's lead being slowly but surely whittled away.
Even so, however, it was not until the closing stanzas that they got their noses in front at 25-24 through a well-taken dropped goal by first-five Sele Tugaga and then made victory safe with a converted try to centre Pua Tafa from an intercept taken well inside his own half.
Not only would Marist have been rueing conceding those points but also the seven achieved by Masterton Red Star a little earlier on in the second well.
Then a penalty attempt by Tugaga fell short and bounced high over the Marist line.
Chasing hard was Masterton Red Star winger Trevahi Rimene and he got up higher than the somewhat lackadaisical Marist defenders to gather the ball and crash over for the try which Tugaga converted.
With both teams managing four tries apiece the match did provide plenty of entertainment for the good sized crowd but the number of basic handling and passing errors made would not have pleased either coaching staff.
Often it seemed to be a case of players simply taking the eye off the ball rather than the intensity of the pressure placed on the offender by the opposing side.
Sterling performances up front for Masterton Red Star came from front rower Tim Hintz, whose charging runs have already made him a cult figure for Rams' supporters, hooker Owen Riddell, lock Tyrone McTavish and loose forwards Chris Senior and Jacob Bubb.
Perhaps it was a coincidence but the standard of the Masterton Red Star back play seemed to lift markedly when coach Corie Karaitiana joined the fray on the wing.
He scored a try from almost his first touch of the ball and, while not as pacy as of yore, made a habit of doing the right thing at the right time.
Sele Tugaga also made a difference when he came on at first-five in the second half and halfback Callum Buchanan impressed with the speed and accuracy off his pass.
The Marist pack was well led by No.8 Anthony Balks who got through a power of work on attack and defence.
Flanker Corey Miller was always close to the action, lock James Goodger was the best lineout forward on the paddock and hooker Derek Graham toiled away genuinely in the tight.
It was also noteworthy to see former Fiji international Bill Cavabati now the assistant coach of Marist take the field at prop and while his mobility may have been questioned his bulk was put to good use at scrum and lineout time.
The star of the Marist backline was undoubtedly centre Daniel Blong whose nifty footwork and rapid acceleration saw him finish with a hat-trick of tries. First-five Kahu Matenga again looked a youngster of promise as did Murray Gleeson at fullback.
Pua Tafa, Corie Karaitiana, Owen Riddell and Trevahi Rimene scored tries for Masterton Red Star with Chris Osborne kicking one conversion and Sele Tugaga kicking two conversions, one penalty and one dropped goal. Daniel Blong (3) and Willie Killion scored Marist's tries and Kahu Matenga kicked two conversions.
Pioneer chalked up their first win of the 2009 season with a 33-15 victory over Puketoi at Pongaroa and scored five tries in doing go. They were credited to Tipi Rimene, David Te Rito, R.Rimene, J.Dalhberg-Paku and K.Henata with Tipene Haira kicking one conversion and Te Rito kicking three conversions. Leighton Bambry and D.Moore scored tries for Puketoi with Jason Liverton landing one conversion.
Martinborough and Greytown were always likely to have a close battle and so it was with a 15-all draw being the end result. Warren Ireland and R.Atkinson scored tries for Martinborough with Quentin Larkin kicking one penalty and one conversion. Tavita Isaac scored two tries and kicked a dropped goal for Greytown and Richard Oakley kicked one conversion.
Carterton maintained their unbeaten record with a 23-16 win over Gladstone in what was a close-fought match which could have gone either way. Tomasi Kedrabuka and K.Sullivan were the try scorers for Carterton and Jono Hurley kicked three penalties and two conversions.
East Coast, who now have John Periera as their sole coach after assistants Mark Donaldson and Dion Mitchell withdrew their services, also made it three wins from as many matches when they overwhelmed Eketahuna 54-13.
Highlight for the Coasters was the scoring of four tries by winger Peter Gray while others went to Luke Shanks, Saan Aporo, Willie Leota and Russell Farrell. Nick Olson kicked seven conversions.