Rugby
Nobody could quibble at the merit of Pioneer's 33-23 win over Gladstone in their opening round Tui Cup premier division rugby match at the Jeans Street ground in Masterton on Saturday,
While honours might have been shared in terms of territory and possession it was Pioneer who were the more clinical when it came to taking advantage of their scoring opportunities.
The four tries recorded by Pioneer were all well taken affairs while Gladstone managed two but could probably have had at least a couple more had the ball been spread wide rather than individuals going it alone.
It wasn't only the Pioneer attacking play which impressed though. They were also steadfast on defence, especially around the fringes of the rucks and mauls and in midfield where Gladstone's danger man, national Heartland representative Cameron Hayton, lurked.
He tried every trick in the book to make good ground but Pioneer were quick to restrict his space and seldom did he manage to break the first tackle.
Skipper Nathan Rolls was prominent in a Pioneer pack which competed strongly in every department of the forward game. He was top value in the lineouts and a constant threat with his determined running in broken play. Lee Ewe was typically destructive with ball in hand and front rowers Eruera Henare and Matt Kawana were true grafters in the tighter exchanges.
Of all the Pioneer players though, it was halfback Joseph Thompson who was the individual star. He was quick on the pass, just as quick on the break and an accurate goal kicker to boot. Damian Kako-Paku was rewarded for a strong performance on attack and defence with two tries.
Gladstone would be disappointed to come away with nothing to show for their efforts.
Their forwards, led by the hard-working Richard Puddy, generally gave as good as they received without ever threatening to dominate their Pioneer counterparts and the same could be said of the backs, who found it hard to make decent headway against a stoic Pioneer defensive screen.
Damian Kako-Paku (2), Joseph Thompson and Sean Robinson scored tries for Pioneer and Thompson added two conversions and three penalties. Richard Puddy and Inia Katia scored the Gladstone tries and Cameron Hayton kicked two conversions and three penalties.
East Coast probably had to work harder for their 13-6 victory over Bush Sports than most pundits would have predicted. Sam Barbour and AJ Manley scored tries for East Coast and Nick Olson kicked a penalty. Dylan Bennett landed one penalty for Bush Sports and Jordan Bennett-Davies dropped a goal.
Eketahuna secured a surprisingly comfortable 35-12 win over Carterton in their match at Eketahuna.
The home team ran in six tries through Brendan Lochhead, Dan Griffin, Joss Tua-Davidson, Luke Mahoney, Matai Naimusudroka and Richard Thurston and Tom Meuli added one conversion and one penalty. Carterton replied with tries to Joshua Cadwallader and Matthew Wakefield and a conversion kicked by Daryl Pickering.
Tui Cup defending champions Greytown kicked off the defence of their title in impressive fashion, beating a plucky Marist 42-17 at Memorial Park. Tevita Isaac and Taihana Brown both scored two tries for Greytown and PJ Freeman and Regan Pope managed one apiece.
Hamish Meyrick kicked two conversions and two penalties and Harry Foster one conversion. Reece Severn, Daniel Gleeson and Willie Roseingrace scored tries for Marist and James Goodger kicked a conversion.Senior reserve match scores: Bush Sports 25, East Coast 12; Carterton 27, Eketahuna 22; Masterton Red Star 20, Martinborough 18.