Waikohu top standings after 15-6 defeat of Ngatapa

Coming through: Waikohu No.8 Tristan Morten gets past Ngatapa first-five Ricardo Patricio in their game on Saturday. Morten was first to cross the try line and score with Waikohu taking home the spoils 15-6. Waikohu will play Ngatapa in the knockout semifinal this weekend. Picture by Paul Rickard

Waikohu secured top spot on the points table with a hard-earned 15-6 defeat of Ngatapa to end Round 2 of the Poverty Bay club rugby competition on Saturday.

The victory gave GT Shearing Waikohu a record of nine wins and just one loss in the Civil Project Solutions competition for 43 points.

They were two points ahead of YMP who beat Enterprise Cars OBM 36-17 to seal a perfect record for the second round, with OBM (30) and Ngatapa (20) rounding out the top four.

The weekend proved a dress rehearsal for this Saturday's knockout semifinals, with Waikohu to take on Ngatapa again and YMP and OBM to decide the other final berth.

High School Old Boys ended their season on a high with a 40-5 win over Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates.

Waikohu faced a much different Ngatapa side at Paddy's Park on Saturday compared with that of their Round 1 match, which the men from Te Karaka won comfortably.

Ngatapa came out of the gate strong, applying pressure from the opening whistle.

Gusty conditions played a part in the first half.

On several occasions Ngatapa's clearing kicks downfield and downwind resulted in the ball being carried by the wind and crossing the dead ball line, meaning a scrum back where the kick was made.

Waikohu strugged to find their groove in the first 40 as they were suffocated by an unrelenting green and white defence.

First five-eighth Ricardo Patricio put Ngatapa in front with a penalty kick in the fourth minute.

Both sides were pinged for technical offences and battling into the strong wind restricted Waikohu from taking advantage of the penalties they received.

A second Patricio penalty put Ngatapa 6-0 up but Waikohu struck back in the 23rd minute from a powerful forward effort, with lock Tristan Morton running on to the ball and crashing over for a try with the help of teammates.

The struggle for points reflected the tight game with neither side willing to give an inch and both sets of forwards making some big hit-ups.

Resilience and patience were key and it paid dividends for Waikohu 23 minutes into the second half when quick hands from a ruck five metres out from the tryline saw winger KC Wilson score in the corner to put them 10-6 ahead.

Ngatapa were still in the hunt and tried everything they could to make something happen only to be repelled.

Waikohu put the game to bed in the 76th minute.

After driving Ngatapa out and winning the ensuing lineout, replacement halfback Ruan Du Plooy popped a kick of over the top of the defensive line, sending Ngatapa scrambling.

The ball bounced awkwardly into the in-goal and Du Plooy, following up his kick, dived on it for the try, leaving Ngatapa having to score twice in the last few minutes.

Despite the loss, Ngatapa captain Dan Law was pleased with their efforts.

“I'm really proud of the boys. The performance we put out was exactly what I asked of them — full of confidence in defence and a lot of guts in attack.”