KEY POINTS:
Ponsonby added yet another Gallaher Shield title to their proud heritage after a 31-0 dismantling of a disappointing Waitemata side yesterday.
Ponsonby captain Mark Hooper was surprised at the scoreline but knew his team was always going to be motivated.
"There's a lot of history in the club,"
he said.
From the outset it was apparent Ponsonby were in no mood for a repeat of last season's final when they edged out Waitemata 19-16.
"Last year they were strong. We always expect them to be tough," said Hooper.
After a couple of minutes, hard-running second five Peter Leulusoo took the ball on halfway and broke through several lazy tackles. He offloaded to lock Junior Maninoa who also shrugged off some weak defence and crossed for the first try.
Ponsonby scored two more tries to take a 21-0 lead at halftime. Waitemata did not trouble Ponsonby apart from one break by winger Nonu Su'a Ausage. He was easily Waitemata's best player as his elusive running tested the tight Ponies defence.
The second half was not much of a spectacle with Ponsonby content with their lead and Waitemata clumsily playing catch-up football.
Super sub Mana Ashford, who was again surprisingly left on the bench, finally got on the park and made an early impact with one searing run but even he could not spark a westie revival.
Ponsonby kept making their tackles and with points on the board were happy to give away penalties to kill any attacking moves. In the final minutes Waitemata appeared spent and Ponsonby scored two more tries. The last try saw Pony stalwart Brett Williams cross-kick to an unmarked Pom Simona who touched down for the simplest of tries.
Number 8 Simona had a big game and his huge tackles cancelled out many promising Waitemata moves. However, one no-arm hit saw him spend 10 minutes in the bin and surely must have led to a painful Sunday for first five and unlucky recipient Mitchell McGahan.
At the final whistle the Ponsonby players looked suitably elated but there must have been some disappointment that Waitemata did not make the game more memorable. It is also no secret that Ponsonby are still smarting from the way they lost to Grammar Carlton earlier in the season and were aching to avenge that loss in the final.
Ponsonby have now won five championships in succession and have racked up seven titles in eight years. The rest of the clubs will need to spend their off-season recruiting wisely if they intend to end this blue and black dynasty.
One positive will be the later start to the Air New Zealand Cup next year which will mean rep players will be available for the finals.
North Harbour
Takapuna's extraordinary record to produce their best performance of a season in a competition decider was demonstrated again when they had a surprisingly easy 30-12 win over old rivals North Shore in the premier final yesterday.
Takapuna devastated Shore, who had been the top qualifiers for the playoffs, with a sublime first-halfdisplay and had the championship title, their third in a row and 11th in 15 seasons, in their grasp by halftime when they led 24-0.
Shore, having earlier won the senior first and under-19 titles, must have fancied their chances of a treble, but were outplayed in the first 40 by an accurate, clinical Takapuna.
The key to the Takapuna win was a strong front five, led by Simon Hanlon, young Will Crispin, in his 50th game, Adrian Donald and an especially mobile loose forward trio in Charles Waide, James Rice and Chad Dellow.
Veteran backs Jerome Smith, Marc Camburn and Chad Campbell also stepped up and first five-eighths Jon Elrick, with his powerful left, proved a major difference. He landed all six of his attempts at goal, whereas Shore had a nightmare with their goalkicking.
Ben Botica, who had been one of the side's big strengths all season, landed only one of four attempts and fullback Hayden Abercrombie failed with his attempt from a comfortable distance.
Tries by Camburn, Rice and Dellow, plus Elrick's boot, provided Takapuna with their big halftime lead. Shore were forced to play catch-up in the second spell but, while they gained two tries, the lead was always too much. Not even the loss of Waide to a yellow card could spoil Takapuna's edge and what was an excellent defence.
Massey won the plate final over Marist and Shore, coached by Wayne Shelford and Frano Botica, won the senior first final, 23-21, from a Northcote side which had Gary Whetton as one of their coaches.
