St Matt's give plenty of cheek

Millenium Cup runners-up Kuranui College did not get everything their own way when they met the team which placed fifth at that same tourney , St Matthew's Collegiate, in a Wairarapa premier one match at the Gensis Recreation Centre in Masterton on Monday night.
Kuranui eventually won by seven goals, 39 to 32, but St Matthew's gave them plenty of cheek, leading 11-6 at the end of the first quarter and 19-17 at halftime.
The message to Kuranui from coach Lynda Strange at the break was
to correct a habit of moving sideward rather than forward on attack and to increase the tempo of their play.
"They (St Matthews) were picking up a lot of tips and intercepts on defence and we were making it too easy for them to do that," Strange said.
"We had to be more direct in
the way we attacked, and quicker too."
It was a message which brought the desired response from
Kuranui who moved out to a 29-26 advantage by the end of the third quarter and increased their lead by a further four goals in the final 15 minutes.
The other premier one match played on Sunday provided
further evidence if it was
needed that unbeaten Harcourts are the class act in the championship race.
They were up against Gladstone All Blacks, who had won their last two games, and it was another one-sided contest, Harcourts winning by whopping 80-18.