“I envisaged rolling on that game plan into the game against Waikohu this weekend.”
YMP were taken out of their rhythm by HSOB, with some of their scoring due to moments of individual brilliance rather than being “well-worked team tries”, Leach said.
It was hard for him as a coach to separate the positives of winning from the performance, which he didn’t believe was up to their potential.
“The boys didn’t mentally prepare . . . we’ve gone back to (the structures we had at) the start of the season.”
Standout performers from the YMP side were Jesse Kapene in the forwards and hat-trick tryscorer Te Peehi Fairlie in the backs, Leach said. They were jointly awarded player-of-the-day honours.
HSOB coach Danny Boyle said that while it wasn’t the result they were after, he was proud of how his team never gave up.
“We wanted to meet fire with fire, but unfortunately we couldn’t keep up.
“We battled away. At times it was pretty tight, but again we succumbed to soft tries. When they got through (our defensive line) they scored.”
He said that despite the 52-10 scoreline, the game wasn’t a blowout. His team kept their heads held high right through to the final whistle.
“No one likes losing, but we’re stoked with having a team out there.”
The post-match celebrations included YMP, Waikohu and OBM players performing a haka for utility back Cory Reihana’s 150th premier game for the club.
Boyle said it was an impressive achievement to notch up so many games at premier-grade level.
