Pioneer shows way over Eketahuna

A rip-snorting nine tries to four 57-25 win over Eketahuna at the Jeans St grounds in Masterton on Saturday has taken Pioneer to a clear lead in the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union's Kapene Cup competition.

They became the front runners for the trophy which goes to the leading team at the end of one complete round of matches after the other hitherto unbeaten side, Bush Sports, were upset 21-14 by Martinborough at Pahiatua.

Up against a depleted Eketahuna side missing several regular players Pioneer were always likely to call the tune and they did it in a manner which kept the good-sized crowd well entertained.

Right from the outset it was obvious Pioneer were intent on playing the expansive style of rugby which has become the trademark of their game and while Eketahuna did have brief periods where they matched fire with fire they simply didn't have the armoury to make a decent battle of it overall.

The pacy Pioneer backline thrived on the regular supply of quality possession provided them by a pack which even without the input of two of their big names in Nathan Rolls and Lee Ewe impressed with their aggressiveness and mobility.

Winger Damien Kamo-Paku scored three of Pioneer's nine tries and showed just why he has been drafted into the Wairarapa-Bush squad with an impressive mix of speed and elusiveness. Seldom was he halted by the first tackle.

Nikora Ewe and Charlie Brown were two other Pioneer outside backs to thrive on the slick service provided them by the likes of Greg Paku and the strong running Tommy Harmon.

Pioneer were reduced to 14 players late in the game when they had a player red carded after a discussion between referee and linesman.

Eketahuna, which trailed 21-10 at halftime, entered into the spirit of the game by also looking to place the emphasis on attack and in gun flanker Johan Van Vliet they would have had a powerful contender for any player of the match award.

His powerful running and ability to be in the right place at the right time earned him two excellent tries and he pulled off several telling tackles.

Martinborough's win over Bush Sports was obviously the main talking point of other premier division games played on Saturday. East Coast and Carterton scored 10 tries between them with East Coast winning 34-25, Greytown edged out Rams 18-13 at Memorial Park and Gladstone defeated a gutsy Puketoi 28-10.