Upfront effort beats Marist

A strong forward effort paved the way for Martinborough's narrow but deserved 20-19 win over Marist in their Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby match played at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
Martinborough were most dominant in the tight, particularly in the scrums where they often had Marist backpedalling fast.
In the mauls too the Martinborough pack impressed on the "pick and go", invariably making good metres with close support play and the aggressiveness of their running.
Hooker Adam Marshall scored two of the three Martinborough tries, a just reward for his high workrate in all facets of the forward game, while Matt O'Neale and Josh Hawkins were others who always seemed to be close to the centre of action.
The mobile Marist forwards were at their best when play loosened up. James Goodger came off the reserve bench midway through the first half when Charlie Naera suffered rib injuries that saw him taken to hospital by ambulance. As usual, Goodger was a willing worker on both defence and attack and Joe Nuku and Ben Couch also had solid games.
Passing and handling errors marred backline efforts. Fullback Greg Dennes did make a couple of scything runs for Martinborough, and while he didn't have the best of the days with his goal kicking he did land the penalty late in the game which sealed the win.
Wairarapa-Bush rep Nathan Couch had a successful return to the Marist fold for the first time this season and he showed some neat touches at first-five, especially in tight defensive situations. Marshall (2) and Tyler Petera scored the tries for Martinborough and Dennes kicked one penalty and one conversion. Murray Gleeson scored Marist's sole try and Couch kicked four penalties and one conversion.
East Coast maintained their unbeaten record and took the lead in the Kapene Cup competition when they beat defending champions Carterton but there was precious little in their 24-22 win.
Englishman Dan Porter was the hero of the day for the Coasters points-wise, scoring three tries and kicking two conversions while Nick Olson scored one try. Carterton also managed four tries through Corey Price, Brock Price, Paddy Cassidy and Mana Apiata and Jono Hurley kicked the one conversion.
The first 15 minutes were all East Coast and they quickly ran out to a 15-0 lead but Carterton fought back strongly and with their forwards protecting possession well actually had the better of the second half.
Outstanding for East Coast were inside backs Matt O'Connor and Zeb Aporo whose quick service allowed the likes of Porter and Nic Olson to utilise their attacking skills through those crucial opening stanzas while for Carterton skipper Mike Wakefield, hooker Corey Price, flanker Josh Fairamo and young prop Ash Casey impressed in the forwards.. Gladstone was too strong all round for Featherston, running in eight tries in their 55-5 win. Corey Reid, a recent transfer from Marist, scored two of the Gladstone tries with others going to Inia Katia, John Bailey, J. Coffey, Andrew McKay, Quentin Parr and A. Wynands. Bailey added six conversions and one penalty. Tommy Sargent scored a try for Featherston.
Lock Daniel Griffin came up with a brace of tries when Eketahuna defeated Greytown 29-5. Brandon Young, Rupeni Tamani and E. Fe'o also touched down for Gladstone and Joe Hull kicked two conversions. Tavita Isaac scored a try for Greytown.