Pioneer are showing the way

HARD YARDS: Impressive Martinborough No8 Tim Roberts on the charge.PHOTOS/CHRIS KILFORD.

Pioneer yet again showed they are leading Kapene Cup contenders when they staved off a determined Martinborough challenge 36-25 in their Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby match played at the Jeans St grounds in Masterton on Saturday.

In an entertaining game between two attack-minded teams it was Pioneer's ability to retain ball and make the most of their scoring opportunities which made the difference.

It was their third success in as many matches and their most impressive effort to date to boot.

That said, however, it would be wrong to suggest it was all one-way traffic.

In fact Martinborough were hugely competitive throughout the first half and actually established handy leads of 15-0 and 22-7 before Pioneer lifted and took control.

Indeed it could be argued that Martinborough created just as many prime scoring chances as Pioneer and it was only their tendency to turn over ball at vital moments in that last 40 minutes which cost them a better result.

Not even having secured a bonus points for their efforts must have been hugely frustrating for the southerners.

Led by the impressive trio of Nathan Rolls, Lee Ewe and Rima Marurai the Pioneer forwards were a mobile lot whose aggressive intent and low body positions often saw them "steal" possession in the rucks and mauls. Significant too was the solidness of their close quarter defence with Marurai invariably leading the way there as well.

Calling the shots well in the backs for Pioneer were the Thompsons, Victor and Joseph, at halfback and first-five respectively, and there was some powerful running in midfield from Nikora Ewe. Prolific try scorer Damien Kamo-Paku was typically lively in the three-quarters and Sean Robinson continued his strong start to the season at fullback.

Martinborough produced a worthy candidate for any player of the match award in No8 Tim Roberts. He made several rampaging bursts in broken play and had a similarly high workrate on defence.

Lock Jacob Smith also took the eye with the certainty of his lineout play and liveliness about the paddock.

The pick of their backs was second-five Tipene Haira who showed the ability to create space for himself with nifty footwork and a useful punt in pressure situations while halfback Max Hornblow generally provided a swift and accurate service.

Damien Kamo-Paku, Rima Marurai (2), Jaden Mason and Sean Robinson scored tries for Pioneer and Joseph Thompson kicked four conversions and a penalty. Tipene Haira, Ardun Munn and Natiti Sami scored tries for Martinborough and Haira added two penalties and two conversions.

Greytown also made it three from three when the defending champions scored seven tries to none in beating East Coast 38-15.

It wasn't a day for the kickers for Greytown but with Teihana Brown (2), Philip Aporo, Tana Isaac, Tavita Isaac and Gareth van Dalen (2) all touching down they still managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Their only successful kick was a penalty by Kingi Kaiwai. East Coast, on the other hand, was well served by Byron Karaitiana in the goal kicking department. He landed five penalty goals.

Marist chalked up their first win of the season with a 29-21 beating of Carterton. Malatai Malatai, Kieran O'Brien, Pua Tafa, Mike Te Whare and Sam Davies scored tries for Marist and Tafa kicked two conversions.

Matt Harrison and Brock Price were the try-scorers for Carterton and Price also kicked three penalties and one conversion.

Eketahuna maintained their unbeaten record with a 28-3 win over Gladstone in a match played under lights on Thursday night. Sam Monaghan, Chris Terry and Paul Tikomainavalu scored tries for Eketahuna and Tom Meuli kicked two conversions and three penalties. Andrew Fell kicked a penalty for Gladstone.

Senior reserve results: Pioneer 52, Martinborough 14; Marist 54, Carterton 7; Greytown 32, East Coast 19.