Pioneer rev up final 40

A powerful second half performance took Pioneer to a commanding 35-19 win over Carterton in their Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby match played before a sizeable crowd at Carterton on Saturday.
Pioneer led by just 19-17 after a first 40 minutes in which the contest was so even the odds heavily favoured a close and exciting finish.
As it happened, however, the second spell produced a very different scenario with Pioneer lifting their workrate a notch or two and completely subduing a Carterton side whose own effort clearly dropped in intensity.
Pre-match speculation that Pioneer could struggle to measure up to the Carterton pack, particularly in the tighter exchanges, was well astray.
Led by their wide-roving No8 Nathan Rolls and fellow loosie Mike Harmon the Pioneer forwards weren't always as stable as they would have liked in the scrums but by maintaining a united front they had the better of their opposites in all other areas of the forward game.
Rolls, returning after an injury break, scored two tries and was always a handful with ball in hand while Harmon covered huge territory on both attack and defence.
The introduction of veteran Anton Kainuku into the Pioneer front row was especially notable as this was the former Wairarapa-Bush representative's last appearance before leaving these shores to live in Australia. He has been a grand servant for Pioneer over a long number of years and it was appropriate he should leave on a winning note.
The Pioneer backs, even in the absence of two of their best, Tommy Harmon and Charlie Brown, impressed with their attacking flair. Tipi Haira at first-five, Hoani Peacock in midfield and Joe Dahlberg-Paku and Cole Pureau on the wings were always inventive in the manner in which they tested the opposition defence and they benefited immensely from the smart service provided them by Victor Thompson at halfback.
Defending champions Carterton could take positives out of their first half effort but would be disappointed with their lack of urgency in the second. Loosies Brock Price and John McFadzean were probably the pick of their forwards while the best of the backs were the inside combination of Cody Whittaker and Jarrod Nyssen.
Unbeaten East Coast managed just the one try against Martinborough but they still ran out comfortable 25-3 winners thanks to their goal kicking skills. Porter scored their try and also kicked four penalties while Byron Karaitiana landed one conversion, one penalty and one dropped goal. Eli Telford dropped a goal for Martinborough.
Marist bounced back from their hefty defeat by East Coast the previous Saturday with a 27-22 win over Gladstone and here too it was goal kicking which proved to be the main difference. Lawrence Titter, Liam Devine and Luama Wilson scored tries for Marist and James Goodger kicked three conversions and two penalties. Bevan Morland (2), Andrew McLean and Quentin Parr were the try scorers for Gladstone and Michael Vuicakau kicked one conversion.
Eketahuna had to work harder than they had anticipated for their 27-12 win over an improving Featherston side which scored two tries, one of them converted. Craig Lawrence, Luke Mahoney, L. Nerioti and Grant Cremen were the Eketahuna try scorers and they were also awarded a penalty try. Joe Hull kicked a conversion.
Greytown chalked up their first success of the 2011 season with a resounding 58-19 win over Puketoi. Greytown scored nine tries in all with Kingi Kaiwai and Tavita Isaac managing two apiece and PJ Freeman, Gareth van Dalen, G. Brooks, Hamish Meyrick and Rob Slater all touching down once. Rhys Lett kicked five conversions and a penalty. Greg Archibald, Brendan Power and S. Terry scored the Puketoi tries and Jason Liverton kicked two conversions.