Top scrum not enough for Pioneer

Carterton were fair value for their 23-17 win over Pioneer in the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby match played at the Park Sportsground in Masterton on Saturday.
In a match spoiled by the number of attacking movements which came to an abrupt halt because of sloppy passing and handling the southerners, who were missing several first choice players, did look the more polished of the two sides with one notable exception, the scrums.
There it was very much one-way traffic with Pioneer often having their opposition on the back pedal and consequently spoiling much of the possession won by Carterton in that department.
In all other areas of the forward game, however, Carterton more than held their own with Joe Harwood having a particularly strong game at No.8, flanker Ben Herrick covering plenty of ground in his search for the loose ball,
Shane Namana being clearly the best lineout forward on the paddock and Dean Cadwallader toiling away honestly in the rucks and mauls
At halfback for Carterton Nathan Sanson generally cleared the ball well despite his team's hassles at scrum time and both he and first-five Neil Rodger invariably found space with their tactical kicks. Rodger also impressed with his coolness in defensive situations .
In Tommy Harmon Carterton had a second-five who was always willing to take the ball up and who was seldom halted by the first tackle and while Glen Bunny made only a fleeting appearance at fullback he did enough to suggest he could quickly become a mainstay of the backline.
It was experienced campaigners Anton Kainuku and Tereina Henare who provided the platform for Pioneer's excellent effort at scrum time and they both worked diligently in other aspects of tight play. Nathan Rolls was his usual dynamic self in the loose, making several telling bursts in broken play, and Dave Ewe was always a threat with ball in hand.
The Pioneer backs were solid enough on defence but there was little penetration on attack. The pick of them was halfback Tipi Rimene who passed crisply and whose option taking was usually sound.
Les Pethyridge and Tommy Harmon scored tries for Carterton and Neil Rodger kicked three penalties and two conversiuons.
Ben Fox and Henare Te Whare scored the tries for Pioneer and Nathan Rolls kicked one penalty and two conversions.
Their forwards paved the way for Greytown-Tuhirangi's 29-20 win over Marist at Pirinoa
Spearheaded by front rowers Jon Tanner, Bruce McKenzie and Dylan Higginson the Greytown-Tiuhirangi pack had a clear edge in the tighter areas of forward play while Norm Henrickson was dominant in the lineouts and, along with Sylvanus Iro, lively in the loose.
Marist 's best period of the game came in the opeining 10 minutes when they threw everything bar the kitchen sink at the home team but they failed to turn that early territorial advantage into points on the board.
They were, however, all even on the scoreboard at 17-17 at halftime and were always threatening whenever their backs got the chance to stretch their legs. Unfortunately for them though that only happened spasmodically.
Midfield backs Quentin Aspinall and Ben Couch and forwards Rhys Severn and Corey Reid were the pick of the Marist players.
Masterton Red Star, returning to first division play after a season's absence, ran in eight tries in beating Puketoi at Memorial Park by 49-22.
As the score would indicate it was a free-flowing match and while both teams were guilty of making basic errors there was enough movement to keep the small crowd entertained.
Fullback Chris Osborne had a fine game for Stars, scoring two tries as well as kicking one penalty and three conversions. He ran practically the length of the field in scoring one of his tries.
A newcomer in wing Oka Logaloga scored three tries for Stars and others went to Peter Bresaz, Andrew Foote and a second new face in Fita.
The experience of Bresaz was always obvious at first-five while forwards to take the eye for the winners were front rowers Nathan Haglund, Hemi Hart and Aaron Cook.
Puketoi competed strongly in the forwards and probably had the edge in the battle for possession but struggled to match Stars in the backs.
Martinborough made it two wins from as many matches by defeating East Coast 15-10. Up 12-0 after 25 minutes Martinborough looked in for a comfortable win but the Coasters hit back strongly and were a close second in the end.
Try scorer Tommy Te Kani on the wing was one of the better performers for Martinborough along with No.8 Josh Hawkins and promising first-five Ryan Renata , who kicked one penalty and one conversion The other try scorer was Jason Rankin.
Defending champions Eketahuna also made it two from two with their 17-5 victory over Gladstone.
The two teams were evenly matched through a first half which ended at 0-0 but Eketahuna had a slight edge in the second spell.
However, they were made to work hard for their win by a Gladstone side who competed strongly enough to suggest they will continue to be a force to be reckoned with as the season progresses.
Tom Fleming scored their try while players to stand out were second-five Duncan Rutherford and loose forwards Sam Henderson and Damon Neal.