Errors mar Pioneer victory

Unofficial competition points
Pool A: East Coast 13, Greytown 11, Pioneer 10, Martinborough 6, Marist 1.
Pool B: Carterton 13, Gladstone 7, Eketahuna 6, Featherston 5, Masterton Red Star 1.
The penultimate round of pool games will be played next Saturday. The draw is: Eketahuna v Featherston, Gladstone v Carterton, Marist v East Coast, Masterton Red Star v Martinborough, Pioneer v Greytown.
Pioneer would have had mixed feelings over their 34-13 win over Marist in the Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby match played at Masterton's Memorial Park on Saturday.
The big positive for Pioneer was that the maximum five points gained from the win kept them well in contention for a semifinals berth but there would have been frustration in the knowledge that a number of tries were "bombed" through basic handling and passing errors.
Indeed, it was largely because of the failure of Pioneer to finish off the many promising attacking movements they launched throughout the first 40 minutes that they led a depleted Marist line-up by just five points, 12 to 7, at the break.
Several times passes were spilled just as the goal line beckoned and there were occasions when had the ball carrier looked to link up with his supports rather than going it alone, tries would almost certainly have resulted.
The second half did see Pioneer lift their standard, with the forwards, especially, impressing with unity on the "pick and go" and their powerful surges in broken play situations. They also achieved a notable dominance in the scrums where they often had Marist on the back pedal.
Front rowers Porky Henare, Ihe Namana and Matt Kawana all had strong games for Pioneer with Henare and Namana relishing any opportunity to run the ball at their opposition. Rarely were either of them halted by the first tackle. Lock Henare Te Whare took down some good lineout ball while Nathan Rolls and Mike Harmon were prominent in the looser phases of the forward battle.
The Pioneer backs were always prepared to chance their arm but lacked their usual rhythm in their attacking play. First-five Tipi Haira made several penetrating runs and generally got good length with his clearing kicks, midfielder Damien Paku was lively and fullback Joe Papaali was typically sound.
Marist, to their credit, never gave up but simply didn't have the firepower to make a closer game of it. Hooker Leuma Wilson and No8 Ben Couch were a couple of hard-working forwards while halfback Dennis Feidelberg, midfielder Shannon Lewis and James Goodger were solid enough in the backs. Goodger, who has deservedly been selected in the Wairarapa-Bush rep squad as a loose forward, was at fullback here and showed his versatility by giving an adequate performance in the unaccustomed role.
Ihe Namana (2), Porky Henare, Nathan Rolls and Lee Ewe scored tries for Pioneer with Rolls kicking one penalty and one conversion and Tipi Haira two conversions. Kereama Waru-Smith scored the Marist try and James Goodger landed three penalties.
East Coast maintained their unbeaten record for the 2011 season with a 16-10 win over Gladstone with the latter's habit of conceding penalties in kickable positions costing them dearly in the final analysis. Dan Porter landed three of them for East Coast and also scored a try which was converted by Nic Olson.
As a spectacle, the match produced a good standard of rugby with neither side gaining any great advantage at back or forward.
Two of the standout players for East Coast were utility forward Joe Feast, who was his usual reliable self at lineout time and also impressed with his mobility about the paddock, and first-five Zeb Aporo whoseastute reading of play was always obvious.
Lock Andrew McLean, flanker Duncan Law and No8 John Stevenson were good value for Gladstone as were Inia Katia and Michael Vuicikau in the backs.
Featherston's 24-17 win over Masterton Red Star was notable for the fact it represented Featherston's first win since their return to premier division action at the start of this season.
And they picked up the maximum five points by running in four tries, two of them to Bevan Langford and others to Dan Sinclair and John Padlie. James Spicer added two conversions.
Shane Davies and Melei Savgalia were the try scorers for Masterton Red Star and Matt Henderson kicked one penalty and two conversions.
Carterton made it three wins from as many matches in the main championship when they edged out Eketahuna 22-17, a victory which gives them a six point advantage on the pool B points table. Greytown and Martinborough shared the points when they fought out an exciting 10-10 draw.