Coasters give Magpies hurry-up

A 21-point haul by first five-eighths Marius Kriel carried Hawkes Bay to a hard-fought 36-30 second division victory over East Coast in Napier yesterday.

A former South African Colts representative, Kriel scored a try and kicked four penalties and two conversions from nine attempts as the Magpies finally subdued the newly- promoted Coasters.

As the scoreline suggests, East Coast were far from disgraced.

"While we wanted four or five points, we're happy with one against one of the competition favourites," East Coast coach Joe McClutchie said.

"A lot of people expected us to get a thrashing, but we justified our step up from the third division."

After trailing 10-18 at halftime, East Coast fought back to 16-21 midway through the second half.

Former Hawkes Bay prop Orcades Crawford scored two tries for East Coast, while another former Hawkes Bay representative, first five-eighths Mano Flutey, kicked 13 points for the Coast - three penalties and two conversions.

Others to impress in a gutsy Coast effort were centre Tyrone Delamere, who scored an intercept try late in the first half, lock Kele Leawere and Crawford's propping partner, Mike Noble.

Hawkes Bay coach Mark Shaw said his team obviously still had a lot of work to do to justify their favouritism for the title.

Thames Valley opened their account with a hard-fought 16-14 win over King Country at Paeroa.

Forwards dominated the match, with fluent backline play a rarity on a stodgy ground.

King Country led 14-11 at halftime, but a try five minutes after the interval to Thames Valley second five-eighths Glen Neems proved crucial.

Valley started strongly and had a measure of control at 11-6 before second five-eighths Ollie Ryan pounced on a wayward clearing kick to score between the posts for King Country.

New Valley captain flanker Simon McKearney led the way, with excellent support coming from the man he replaced, lock Bob Rigter, No 8 Steve Trebilco and prop Barton Thompson.

In the King Country pack, hooker Paul Mitchell, lock Marc Morunga and No 8 Daniel Alofa impressed.

In Wanganui, Manawatu held on for a 19-15 victory over a resurgent home side.

After leading 16-0 at halftime, the heavier and taller Manawatu side looked on track for a comfortable victory. But Wanganui struck back with two tries in the first 16 minutes of the half to close to within a single point.

The accurate goalkicking of fullback John Guise, who finished with 14 points, paved the way for Manawatu's first victory for new coach Ken Maharey.

Mid-Canterbury started their campaign with an encouraging 26-10 win over Marlborough at the Ashburton Showgrounds.

Marlborough goalkicker Dallas Hamilton opened the scoring with a penalty in the fifth minute.

But from then, Mid-Canterbury took control of the match, forging an 18-3 lead at halftime after tries by Philip Prendergast and Paul Chapman.

First five-eighths John Ellis kept the home side on the front foot with some accurate kicking and option taking.

Marlborough made several changes at halftime and their rearranged forward pack made some progress, although it was not reflected on the scoreboard.

Mid-Canterbury's defence held until the final quarter when Marlborough first five-eighths Sam Gibbons finally scrambled over.

- NZPA