Uawa repel Ngatapa's Barry Cup challenge

Getting the backs away: Sam Parkes gets the ball away to his backs. Parkes has been a great leader, tactician and player for Uawa this season. Picture supplied.

The Barry Cup will stay in Tolaga Bay for summer following the Uawa rugby sub-union’s 28-3 defeat of Ngatapa at Uawa Domain on Sunday.

Fitness, determined attack and staunch, fearless defence have been a winning formula for Uawa this year, and Sunday’s game was no exception.

The home team led throughout: from flanker Matekairoa McGuire’s pushover try soon after kick-off to captain and halfback Sam Parkes’s penalty in the dying minutes.

Following their premier team’s successful season in the Poverty Bay competition this year, Ngatapa had been seen as strong final challengers for the cup this year, but little went right for them on the day.

The Ngatapa forwards won their share of scrum ball, but their backs were almost always quickly closed down before they could move it out.

The visitors weren’t able to dominate, perhaps because they were surprised by the ferocity of Uawa’s play.

There were strong south-easterly winds and rain throughout the game, but few dropped balls from either side.

Uawa’s faster, younger forwards won the lineouts, loose ball and many turnovers, as well as scoring all the tries in the game.

Few Ngatapa forwards got more than two or three metres with the ball before being brought down.

The Uawa forwards made useful breaks, offloads and plenty of metres.

Parkes kicked off for Uawa, and they went hard on attack, forcing their way on to the Ngatapa line. A maul formed and McGuire scored.

The try was converted by Kelvin Smith, who soon added a penalty.

Uawa dominated first-half possession, although a lot of play was in centrefield.

Ngatapa had a solid spell on attack after the first 30 minutes, during which Pete Livingston slotted a penalty for the visitors.

Uawa flanker Rikki Kernohan scored near the sideline to open Uawa’s account in the second half. Smith converted from near the sideline, and soon afterwards added a penalty to give the home team a 20-3 lead.

At this stage Ngatapa came right back into the game and camped within the Uawa 22. From a scrum, the visitors set up an impressive backline move that looked set to end in a try, but it was ruined by a forward pass. Winger Nick Herries also came close to scoring.

Uawa then forced play back to centrefield and kept the pressure on to the end.

Prop Dan Knubley scored a try in the corner. The conversion attempt missed, and Parkes added the final penalty.

Uawa lost only three games in the East Coast championship, and the clean sweep of their Barry Cup games caps off a great year.

Praise should go to manager Darryl Crawford and coaches Tip Nukunuku and Peter Crawford for bringing it all together. Parkes has been a great on-field leader: he reads the game superbly and is into everything.

Uawa 28 (Matekairoa McGuire, Rikki Kernohan, Dan Knubley tries; Kelvin Smith 2 con, 2 pen, Sam Parkes pen).

Ngatapa 3 (Pete Livingston pen).

HT: 10-3.