Mockery made of home advantage

Gladstone were the only one of the top four seeds left standing at the end of quarter-final matches in the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby championship on Saturday.
The current title holders kept their top seeding intact with a relatively comfortable win over Eketahuna but the other three matches made a mockery of home advantage.
Second seeds Carterton were upset by seventh seeds Martinborough 8-6 at Carterton, third seeds Pioneer lost 15-5 to sixth seeds East Coast at the Park Sportsground and fifth seeds Marist beat fourth seeds Greytown 27-19 at Greytown.
As befits a competition which has had more than its share of controversy all season the semi-final draw for next weekend was still a matter of debate yesterday and won't be confirmed until a meeting of the council of clubs this evening.
However, the likelihood was that as with the quarter-finals it would be done on seedings which would mean Gladstone playing Martinborough at Gladstone and Marist playing East Coast at Memorial Park.
Gladstone coach Steve Thompson was pleased with the way his team adjusted to the wintery conditions in Saturday's encounter with Eketahuna.
Aware that Eketahuna would look to dominate the forward exchanges the onus was placed on the Gladstone pack to lift their effort accordingly and they did exactly that.
The lineout play of Tim Fleming, Andrew McLean and Steve Wilkinson ensured they attained a wealth of quality possession from that avenue, front rowers Kurt Simmonds and Richard Puddy not only anchored a solid scrum but were also lively about the paddock and No.8 Mike Spence often made good ground with his strong runs around the fringes of the rucks and mauls.
The first priority of the Gladstone backs was to keep their forwards on the front foot and first-five Kingi Kawai was a key player there, invariably finding space with his tactical kicks. Jordan Watene was solid in midfield and Angus Crisp made the most of his limited chances on the wing.
Eketahuna's forwards toiled away well with flankers Josh Harriman and Sully Alsop both having busy games and Brendan Walker using his strength to telling effect in the tight. Wing Blair Percy was the pick of their backs, always being prepared to go looking for work on both attack and defence.
Carterton may have lost by only two points to Martinborough but coach Steve Hurley was making no excuses for the defeat, saying that after his team had the edge in the first half Martinborough had played "very smart" rugby to clearly turn the tables in the second.
"They kept us pinned down in our 22m for long periods simply by doing the basics well so we can't say we were unlucky," Hurley said. "On the day the better team won, simple as that."
Martinborough coach John Danger was quick to pay tribute to his forwards who he said had measured up well to a Carterton pack with plenty of experience in key areas. "The wet conditions always meant the forward battle was going to be hugely important and our fellows really pulled one out of the bag there," he said.
Locks Matt O'Neale and Sam Walsh, flanker Jared Hawkins and front rowers Jackson Matthews and Daniel George all had outstanding games for Martinborough up front and Greg Wilson kicked intelligently at first-five.
No.8 Tomasi Kedrabuka was typically industrious for Carterton in attacking and defensive situations while halfback Callum Buchanan and fullback Keiran Blake also had sound games for a side whose large injury toll in the last two to three weeks was hardly helpful to their cause.
Front rowers Chris Starling, Deon Mitchell and Darren Walker were the catalyst to East Coast's deserved 15-5 win over Pioneer at the Park Sportsground. Their combined efforts allowed East Coast to dominate the many scrums put down on a wet and muddy surface which was always going to make accurate attacking play through the backs a non-event.
Flanker cum lock Joe Feast was another East Coast forward to shine, both for the tenaciousness of his defence and his ability to take down clean lineout ball, lock James Balfour was also good value in the lineouts and flanker Craig Stewart and No.8 Tanika Karaitiana shirked nothing in the loose.
The East Coast backs struggled with their option taking at times but once they realised that territory was all important in the conditions the hefty boot of second five Te Maika Mason became a valuable weapon.
Pioneer, for their part, too often tried to move the ball by hand and suffered the consequences with turnovers just as often being created through spilled passes. A hefty penalty count did go in their favour but there too they failed to take the elements into account, invariably looking to tap and run rather than kick for territory.
The liveliness of No.8 Nathan Rolls and flanker Mike Wilson, was, however, always evident for Pioneer in loose play with Rolls's try being a fine example of what grit and determination can bring. He had a wall of defenders in front of him when he started his run about 15m out from the line but somehow managed to crash and bash his way through them.
Joe Papaali was the best of the Pioneer backs, being safe under the high ball when playing at fullback in the first half and elusive on the counter attack when at wing in the second spell.
A disconcerting feature of this game was the lengthy wait for an ambulance to arrive after East Coast centre Saan Aporo had been knocked out in a tackle situation. Play was held up for almost 15 minutes before Aporo recovered to the point where he could walk from the field and the ambulance arrived soon after.
It was the second time this season in a senior first division games that the time between an ambulance being called and actually arriving seemed longer than should be expected and it is something which needs to be addressed before it leads to a far more serious ending.
Marist coach Sid Tatana was thankful his team had started strongly in their quarter-final with Greytown at Greytown, racing out to a double-figure lead within the first 15 minutes and stretching that to 21-0 before Greytown scored a try just before halftime.
The second half was a different story with Greytown finishing the stronger of the two sides and reducing Marist's lead to 27-19 at the final whistle.
"We got away to a flier and, in the end, that was the difference between winning and losing," Tatana said. "They (Greytown) really lifted their effort in that second half and we were probably a bit lucky to hang on."
Lock James Goodger and loosie Joe Nuku and Ben Couch were standouts in a Marist pack which had more fire in the belly than in their previous clash with Greytown just a week earlier, a game which Greytown actually won by a narrow margin.
"We wanted more from the forwards this time and, fortunately, we got it," Tatana said. "I wouldn't say we ever got on top but at least we held our own."
Wing Matthew Gleeson starred in the Marist backline, making the most of his attacking opportunities and excelling on cover defence. First five Paddy Rimene was typically sound and Nathan Couch made a good first of the 40 minutes he had at fullback before leaving the field.
Not surprisingly Greytown coach Stacey Grant was ruing his team's sluggish start although he was pleased with the way they lifted their effort after halftime. "We let them get too far ahead, that was the problem for us," he said.
Fullback Richard Tosswill, midfielder Julian Cosgrove and first-five Laurence Matthews were backs to shine for Greytown and No.8 Johnny Avatea had another strong game in the pack.