Te Awamutu Sports celebrated Matthew Towers' 150th match with a victory over University. Photo / Justin Miezenbeek
Te Awamutu Sports celebrated Matthew Towers' 150th match with a victory over University. Photo / Justin Miezenbeek
Ecolab Te Awamutu Sports bounced back from last week’s disappointment with their most complete performance of the season.
With a top-five position on the line, they repelled a talented and desperate University side at Albert Park on Saturday, 38-24, celebrating club legend Matthew Towers’ 150th game for the club.
Try-scoring machine Shauncy Waho picked up another double, taking his tally to 12 for the season.
Halfback Tairoa Crean, loose forward Niah Church-Jones, and hooker Sean Ralph also crossed the tryline.
Pivot Sam Toa added a penalty and four conversions, displaying an impressive performance from the tee.
Sports made a great start when Crean darted off the ruck, creating space for Stacey Daniel to get on the outside of his man and offload inside back to Crean, opening the scoring. Toa converted from the sideline, giving them an early 7-0 lead.
University quickly responded to even the score before taking their first lead at 12-7 after 20 minutes, exploiting Te Awamutu’s weakness in the right corner.
Stung into action, Sports played more directly and pushed University back onto their line.
A wide pass from Crean to Waho allowed the latter to step, spin, and burst through a tackle to score, reclaiming the lead at 14-12 after Toa’s successful conversion from the other sideline.
In a back-and-forth match, University swung back onto the attack, forcing Te Awamutu back and allowing loose forward Codi Rodgers to burst through weak defence and reclaim the lead at 19-12 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
However, Sports quickly countered, pushing the visitors into the left corner and then swinging back right.
Logan Karl delivered a wide kick that University couldn’t handle, and Waho swooped onto the loose ball to score his second try. Toa converted from a wide position again, and Sports took a 21-19 lead into the break.
Sports struck early in the second half through Toa’s boot, extending their lead to 24-19.
Te Awamutu Sports' Westyn Cobb was impressive in the victory over University. Photo / Justin Miezenbeek
Ralph then struck a telling blow off a Waho break down the right flank, catching a gap off the ruck and crashing over the try line. Toa’s conversion turned Te Awamutu’s two-point lead into a 12-point lead within 10 minutes.
But Sports weren’t done yet. At the hour mark, Waho intercepted a University attacking move and raced away down the right flank.
The cover defence caught him five metres out, but he held his feet and offloaded to a flying Church-Jones, who crossed in the right corner. Toa’s pinpoint conversion from the touchline stretched their lead to 38-19, putting them in full control.
The visitors managed to score again with 15 minutes remaining, making it interesting.
However, Te Awamutu’s defence held off the desperate University side to secure an impressive win in an outstanding game of rugby.
Youngster Leo Scott was the toast of the Ecolab Te Awamutu Sports Premier Development side after crossing on the final play to secure a remarkable 29-26 comeback win over University B.
They had trailed 15-26 with just under five minutes to play.
Tries from Scott (2), Eli Adlington, and Gelestino Kiutau led the way, while Dillon Martin added three conversions and a penalty goal from the tee, bringing his total to 87 for the season.
An early feeling-out period was shattered when impressive midfielder Richie Kuresa broke down the left wing, putting Scott in the left corner.
Leo Scott crossed on the final play for the Te Awamutu Sports Premier Development side to secure a remarkable comeback victory. Photo / Justin Miezenbeek
Martin converted from wide out, followed by University’s reply, resulting in a 7-7 deadlock after 30 minutes of play.
Kuresa also played a part in their second try, stepping inside the defence and offloading wide to Adlington, who dove over in the corner, giving them a 12-7 lead at halftime.
University would feel they controlled the game but didn’t see the rewards on the scoreboard.
However, they found the second half more profitable, scoring tries in the 43rd, 48th, and 76th minutes.
These were only offset by a Martin penalty goal, and with a 16-26 lead and four minutes left to play, the visitors would have felt comfortable. Sports, however, had other plans.
They rampaged down the field with hot attack, and Martin spotted a gap, raced through it, and offloaded in the tackle to Kiutau beside the posts. This closed the gap to four points as the clock ticked to full-time.
Replacement loose forward Nikau Nolan took the restart and burst through the first line of defence, racing down the field and getting tackled around 30 metres out.
Quick ball was sent to the right, where Clark Towers had the defence on its heels.
He glided through a gap, angled for the right corner, drew the last man, and offloaded inside to Scott. Scott ran the last 20 metres untouched as time expired.
Martin converted from out wide again to complete another incredible match.
THE HONDA SHOP TE AWAMUTU SPORTS UNDER 21s
Kicking off what would be an incredibly successful week for Te Awamutu Sports, the Honda Shop Te Awamutu Sports Under-21s got the ball rolling with an impressive 58-10 demolition of Waitete under the lights and in the fog on Friday night at Albert Park.
Doubles from Caleb Wright, Austin Frederick, and Renata Palmer led the way, while Jack Hunt, Rameriz Viane, and Tommy Tusiane also scored.
Riley Dixon (one penalty, one conversion) and George Poolman (four conversions) added the icing from the tee.
In the first half, Frederick scored twice, and Wright added a try, along with a Dixon penalty goal.
