"It was a good win for my cousin on his 100th," he added referring to the villagers captain and second five-eighth Adam Bradey who scored two tries in the victory.
First five-eighth Ihaia West produced his best display of the season and it included five penalties and two conversions from nine attempts at goal.
Winger Mikey Vuicakau was always elusive on attack while in the cohesive host pack prop Brendon Edmonds was prominent at scrum time and hooker Matt Phillips, one of four under-20 players in the side, was courageous on defence.
Tech paid the price for not playing to their strength. The visitors should have had Hurricanes extended squad member Richard Buckman at first five-eighth instead of fullback and played the short game using their bigger and more experienced pack to smash the villagers pack into submission.
Instead they tried to beat Havelock at their own game and lacked the necessary polish. Busy No8 Levi Guildford was the best of the visitors.
"We were beaten by a better team. It's now a case of back to the drawing board and hopefully we can reverse this result in the Maddison round," Tech coach David Briggs said.
Taradale 37 Hastings 30
Samoa Sevens representative Neria Fomai scored three tries for IMS Payroll Hastings Rugby and Sports during the first 25 minutes of this match.
But the centre's feat, in his second club outing after two IRB World Series tournaments wasn't enough to give the visitors a win against Carters Frame and Truss Taradale who recovered well from a 20-10 halftime deficit. Fullback Manihera Eden was dynamic on the counter attack, captain Andrew Gardner led by example in both the No8 and blindside flanker roles and loosehead prop James Humphrey was prominent in the battle of the two engine rooms.
Second five-eighth Ausage Fomai was again the pick of the Hastings players. Captain and lock Tom Parsons and blindside flanker Tom Burns were other valuable contributors.
MAC 15 Clive 5
MAC secured their best Nash Cup finish, fifth, in more than two decades with this win at Farndon Park.
Experienced locks Everard Reid and John Te Ngaio and promising blindside flanker Dempsey Greening were inspirational in the visiting pack. First five-eighth Richie Laming, veteran lock Sven Hogenesch, openside flanker James Tango and midfield back Billy Ropiha all had memorable patches for Clive.
Pirate 45 Central 17
Central winger Mark Donald celebrated his 100th appearance for the side with a try in this entertaining Park Island fixture.
Donald's team led 17-14 at halftime and were unlucky to be he held up upon crossing the line on two other occasions in the first half. However Tanalised Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports were full of authority in the second half with the halfback-first five-eighth combination of Zane Hiko and David Neilson directing play well.
Openside flanker Hamish Willis scored two tries after taking the field as a substitute. Fullback Karl Lepelaars, No8 Tom Symes and lock Conrad Pedersen were among Central's best.
NOBM 43 Tamatea 19
Lock Adam Whitehead celebrated his premier debut for Hawke's Bay Insurances Ltd Napier Old Boys Marist with a player-of-the-match performance in this Park Island victory.
Hooker Laulu Ta'a also made his premier debut and joined Whitehead and loosehead prop Reece O'Leary on coach Mike Warren's MVP list. Work commitments forced two of Tamatea's regular locks out of the encounter and two props had to switch to locking roles.
Under these circumstances Tamatea supporters were proud of their side's never-say-die approach. First five-eighth Jimmy Harris and second five-eighth Peni Paselio were the pick of the backs and veteran Campbell Johnstone displayed his versatility with stints at openside flanker and halfback.
