Stratford Eltham divison one rugby team faces off against Tukapa in round-robin decider

The Streltham team has secured its spot in the playoff finals. Photo / Jon Palmer

Stratford Eltham’s Thunder division one rugby team faced off against Tukapa.

The match was as important as last week’s against Clifton, with the game to confirm a spot in the playoff finals.

Thunder opened the scoring with five points early on. Both teams ran the ball wide and gave a nail-biting, exciting game for the home fans.

With a stalemate on the pitch, Tukapa elected to kick a penalty for three points. From the restart Thunder stepped up a gear, the whole team realising that a large win was needed to secure the bonus point.

In the next 20 minutes, Thunder put 33 points on the board to go into halftime up 38-3 against Tukapa.

From the kick-off Thunder carried on where they left off with another 14 early points. However, Thunder had two men yellow-carded at the same time so were playing with 13 men for 10 minutes; this handicap allowed Tukapa to compose themselves and get on the offensive, scoring seven points in reply, followed by another penalty score.

Once the players returned, Thunder consolidated the win and bonus point with another 12 points before the final whistle.

It must be noted Tukapa had only 15 available players and no reserves to call on during the game, so I’m sure fatigue played a part in not holding off Thunder’s offensive game.

The final score was 69-13.

Players of the day were: three points Fletcher Laurie, two points Connor Muir and one point Chase Langton.

Other scores: Thunder Premiers 32-20 Tukapa, Thunder Colts 29-7 Tukapa.