Rugby
In what was the very last act of the match Eketahuna first-five Tom Meuli landed a penalty goal to give his team a 14-13 win over Greytown in their Wairarapa-Bush Tui Cup premier division rugby match at Greytown on Saturday.
It was appropriate that it should be Meuli who had the final say as he was one of the standout performers in a game dictated by the wintery weather which turned the ground into something of a mudbath.
Under those conditions goal kicking was never going to be easy through the combination of a slippery ball and uncertain footing so why Meuli's three successful kicks were from relatively handy range his accuracy had to be applauded.
But it wasn't only in the goal kicking where the lanky No 10 excelled, he also kicked well in general play, particularly from tight defensive situations where apart from having one clearing kick charged down his calmness under pressure was always evident. This was a match where the teams basically only had two attacking options, either they had to go "up the guts" or kick and chase. Tricky backline moves for instance quickly became a no-no because of the difficulty in changing direction with the pace needed to make it effective.
Neither side could claim to have clearly won the battle for superiority up front. Eketahuna were slightly ahead in the first half and Greytown in the second but overall the two packs cancelled each other out. The sameness of the jerseys as they became covered in mud made it difficult to identify players but the prominence of Johan Van Vliet for Eketahuna and Tana Isaac for Greytown in the loose was still patently obvious.
Meuli was clearly the standout in an Eketahuna backline which was mainly content to play second fiddle to their forwards while another couple of the Isaacs, Tapaga at second-five and Tavita on the wing, generally made it over the advantage line for the home team whenever the ball came their way.
Eketahuna lock Dan Griffin has been making a regular habit of scoring tries this season and he was credited with the sole try managed by Eketahuna here and Meuli kicked three penalties. Tana Isaac scored a try for Greytown and Glen Walters kicked one conversion and two penalties.
The other three Tui Cup matches played on Saturday were similarly affected by the inclement weather with the main talking point being Carterton's 25-20 win over Martinborough. Remarkably, eight tries were scored in this game with underdogs Carterton managing five of them through Johnie McFadzean, Luke Jones, Tom Dixon, Dylan Higgison and Carlos Rimene.Try scorers for Martinborough were Ardun Mann, Josh Hawkins and Tom Te Kani while Tipene Haira landed one penalty and conversion.
East Coast just missed a bonus point in their 19-5 victory over Marist, who were celebrating their old-timer's day.Byron Karaitaina, Hopea Thompson and Zeb Aporo scored tries for East Coast-one short of a bonus point- and Nick Olson landed two conversions. Kieran O'Brien scored a try for Marist.
Pioneer maintained their impressive Tui Cup form with a 21-0 beating of Bush Sports. Aki Henare-Kuru, Lee Ewe and Ihe Namana were the Pioneer try scorers and Joseph Thompson kicked three conversions.
In senior reserve matches Masterton Red Star beat Greytown 19-8 and Carterton edged out Eketahuna 15-14.