Club rugby wraps

Hikurangi 21, Awanui 10
Flanker Aaron Wright was to the fore as Hikurangi all but ended Awanui's chances of making the semifinals this year with a win at Awanui in a Northland-wide premier club rugby match on Saturday.
Wright scored a try and was at his rugged best as Hikurangi fended off Awanui in a wind-affected first half then stepped up the pressure in a physical second spell.
Awanui, playing with a forceful wind at their backs in the first half, were unable to make the most of the conditions turning with a narrow 5-3 lead thanks to a try to Maseke Davu.
When Awanui emerged for the second half their chances of success got a boost with a sudden wind change robbing Hikurangi of the opportunity to kick for territory as expected.
But the visiting side never lost their focus, shadowing Awanui in the set phases and making several clever substitutions to extinguish Awanui's hopes.
It was a good performance for the Hikurangi side, a notable victory on the road, and an effort that has underlined their status as definite title contenders this year.
Wright scored a try along with newcomer Eric Howie with Noel Edmonds adding three timely penalty goals, two of them slotted despite battling changeable wind conditions.
But Awanui were never out of contention either, their forwards able to gain valuable metres with rumbling pick- and-go drives and a physical backline able to create several likely chances outwide.
It was only Hikurangi's ability to defend that kept Awanui at bay.
#####
Sharks 23, Otamatea 15
Young winger Hayden Hutchinson stepped up to be counted as the Western Sharks were forced to dig deep to beat Otamatea in a rugged Northland-wide club rural derby game played at Dargaville on Saturday.
Hutchinson nailed six penalty goals to hand his team the victory and performed a leading role in a game that was played in difficult conditions against under-rated and rugged opposition.
Otamatea might be sitting at the foot of the competition ladder, but they keep defying that status by coming out with all guns blazing and forcing their opponents to adapt.
Against the Sharks, Otamatea took no prisoners, winning ample possession and often catching the homeside off guard with explosive forward drives and a rock solid scrum.
Otamatea took great pride in scoring two tries to the Sharks one, and were annoyed they let the game slip after being in contention right up to the final whistle.
The Otamatea tries went to Toby Phillips and Mike Tovine while the Sharks could only conjure up one five-pointer, to prop Paul Horner.
Had it not been for the deadly accurate kicking skills of Hutchinson, the Sharks could have been in big trouble and under some pressure to avoid suddenly being pitched into a battle to avoid relegation.
In the end they did enough to win, leaving Otamatea to ponder the injustice of relegation instead.
#####
Hora Hora 18, Mid Northern 10.
Promising first five-eighths Luke Voss was a star as Hora Hora made the most of their chances to beat Mid Northern in a Northland-wide premier club rugby game played at Hora Hora on Saturday.
Voss, who only transferred form Onerahi to Hora Hora this year, was in fine form in difficult conditions, often finding some big holes in the Mid Northern defence with some darting runs at first receiver.
But he also nailed Mid Northern with some well struck tactical kicks and kept his cool when Hora Hora were put under some pressure by an increasingly desperate Mid Northern outfit late in the game.
In the end Hora Hora were deserved winners as they outplayed Mid Northern upfront, a factor that was always going to be crucial in a game played in the wet at Hora Hora.
But to win Hora Hora were forced to come back from a 3-10 halftime deficit and bounce back from missing several try-scoring chances in an entertaining first half.
Mid Northern, with David Holwell a forceful character at first five-eighths and Jason Hammond back playing at hooker, fended off several Hora Hora raids with some desperate defence.
The visiting side then launched a few likely attacks of their own, with Holwell in the middle of most of the action, and Logan Going making a couple of handy probes as well.
That saw winger Mike Rowe score just before the break. Hora Hora were undaunted though and soon took control of proceedings in the second spell with hooker Doug Te Puni a dominant force and got on the front foot with some impressive rolling mauls.
Te Puni benefitted when he scored a try busting out of the back of one such maul and it soon became obvious Mid Northern were in some trouble when it came to defending forward drives.
When Carlton Pitman broke through and scored from second five-eighths though, Mid Northern had no answers at all.
#####
Marist 35, Wellsford 30
Powerful loose forward Jake Paringatai scored two tries as Marist powered past Wellsford in a high scoring Northland-wide club rugby clash played at Wellsford on Saturday.
Paringatai was at his confrontational best, leading the Marist forwards in what was an entertaining and physical game between two top-four semifinal contenders.
But it took a while for Marist to get the winning edge of a plucky Wellsford team who simply refused to roll over.
Wellsford were led in fine style by lock John Cocker and organised in fine fashion by halfback Jade Green and were able to keep Marist honest by winning an equal share of lineout possession and compete well at the breakdowns.
First five-eighths Daniel Bowden also did well, showing no signs of fatigue from his efforts playing a representative trial game for Northland midweek.
Two tries each from Soul Salulu and Joe Nanu helped Wellsford's cause no end, Salulu in particular showing he is a definite representative candidate with two well-taken tries and some brutal defence.
But it was Marist who came through the victors with Josh Levi doing well and dictating terms with some sound tactical kicking and some accurate goal kicking as well. Levi slotted three penalty goals and converted three of Marist's four tries.
Joining Paringatai on the list of try scorers were Tim Henwood and Atua Martin.
Marist led 28-20 at halftime.
#####
Waipu 19, Kamo 13
A brilliant 70-metre try scored by winger Afua Aunua was an early highlight as Waipu stepped up to beat Kamo in a Northland-wide club rugby match played at Kamo on Saturday.
But Waipu were forced to dig deep as their stunning opening gambit, that netted them 19 points in about as many minutes, failed to deter a Kamo side that looked like they were about to be handed a decent thrashing.
Instead, when it looked like Waipu were about to rumble on for a big victory, Kamo kept growing in stature to ask some serious questions of Waipu's bid for a championship title this season.
Led by lock Lloyd Budd and Welsh utility back Emyr Lewis, Kamo started to climb back into contention by disrupting a surprisingly lack lustre Waipu lineout and came back from a 0-19 halftime deficit to grab a bonus point.
It was quite a resurgence from Kamo with prop Jason Bowden again a force in the exchanges up front and a cast of Kamo backs who defended well under some pressure late in the first half.
Waipu though always looked the more likely with Jason Hita a star yet again and several of the Waipu forward pack toiling away to make sure Kamo worked hard for any gain.
After Aunua's try, Hita got over from a clever backline ploy then Ross Jones dotted down to give Waipu the healthy early advantage.
But by halftime Kamo's confidence was starting to grow with first five-eighths Brendan Hickman doing well and the entire forward pack feeding off some bullocking runs by Bowden.
Bowden grabbed Kamo's first try in the middle of a forward rumble then Francois Eckhardt slotted a penalty goal to close the gap. Lewis then topped off a solid performance with a try in the final few moments of the game.