Hamilton Old Boys Huskiez halfback Reese Anderson sets the backs alight in their 15-0 home win over Ōtorohanga. Photo / Dave Mills
With another weekend of Waikato Club Rugby in the can, for some premier sides their hopes of qualifying in the top five for the Breweries Shield are at an end.
Meanwhile, the new turf at Hamilton Marist was a massive success, with rugby all day wrapped up with a quality Premier top-of-the-table clash.
It was heartache again for the Pirongia Colts with another tight loss, while the Melville women’s team lead in the Waitomo Group Women’s Premiership was cut to one point.
The much-anticipated top-of-the-table matchup between Hamilton Marist and Ōtorohanga headlined a huge weekend of Premiership rugby.
It was put on ice for just over an hour because of a serious injury from the prior Premier B match, but when it got under way the newly installed LED lights were working a treat with a good buzz around the ground.
Hamilton Marist got out to an early lead with tries to Fletcher Morgan and Liam Gilheany-Black, who barged over from short range to go up 14-0 after 15 minutes.
Ōtorohanga responded soon after through a penalty kick to second five-eighths Hamish Clapcott.
An error off the resulting kick-off saw Hamilton Marist have a midfield scrum to the left of the posts 22m out.
Winger Newton Tudreu receiving a flat ball from halfback Keaton Neels and some weak defence in the Ōtorohanga backline saw Tudreu touch down for his first of two tries.
Marist’s lead was 21-3 after 20 minutes.
Ōtorohanga maintained some possession and crossed in the left corner through centre Hutana Coffin to make it 21-8 but a try just before the halftime break made it 28-8 to Hamilton Marist.
It was a big task for the Ōtorohanga men to come back from in the second forty.
The second half proved to be a much tighter match-up, with Hamilton Marist adding only three more points, from the boot of Morgan, while Ōtorohanga’s Murray Iti dotted down to add to his season tally. Hamilton Marist won 31-13.
The other big match-up was at the University of Waikato earlier in the afternoon. Te Awamutu Sports were looking to break a wretched run of defeats, while the students have been the form side recently and a win ensured top-five Premiership status in round two.
In a typical back-and-forth match-up on what was Varstonians Day at the University, it was the home side who got up 30-24 versus Te Awamutu Sports.
A double to University winger Joshua Brunger highlighted the scoring for the home side in their five-tries-to-four home win.
It was a lower-scoring affair in Morrinsville, where Fraser Tech got up 17-13 to record their third win of the year, while big wins at home went to Hamilton Old Boys and Hautapu respectively.
Hautapu won 54-7 at home versus Melville, pushing Hautapu up into second on the ladder over Ōtorohanga, while Hamilton Old Boys’ 57-7 win at home over United Matamata Sports keeps their top five aspirations alive, jumping past Melville into fifth spot on the ladder heading into the last week of the first round.
This weekend it comes down to two sides to make up that fifth spot in the top five. Hamilton Old Boys - currently fifth - host Ōtorohanga at Fred Jones Park, while Melville, currently sixth, host University at Collins Rd.
A win to Old Boys will put them in the fifth spot, but a loss to Ōtorohanga will mean they’ll need University to beat Melville.
A Melville win with an Old Boys loss will put the Collins Rd men into the top five in what would be a massive turnaround in form from last year, when they held their Premier status via a promotion/relegation play-off win.
Hamilton Old Boys’ Huskiez hosted Ōtorohanga at Willoughby Park, both sides comfortably in the top four but chasing Melville at the top of the table.
A win to Ōtorohanga would have seen them jump Melville into the top spot while the Huskiez needed the bonus point to draw level.
Tries to Ana Marsters and Tafiau Fetalaiga and a conversion and penalty kick to Yu Sato were enough for the home side to get up and win 15-0 over the travelling Ōtorohanga ladies.
The other Premiership match-up was University hosting Kihikihi at the University. The home side ran in eight tries with a hattrick to Chelsea Semple, playing in her 50th match for University, the pick of the try scorers.
The championship got under way on Thursday evening when Putāruru hosted United Matamata Sports in a catch-up match-up from round seven.
Putāruru ran away with a 33-0 win at home to put them on top of the championship ladder.
In a tight match-up, third-placed Hautapu travelled north to Murphy Lane to take on fourth-placed Taupiri.
Nine tries were scored in the afternoon, providing plenty of entertainment for the faithful supporters, who saw the home side win 31-26 and jump into the third spot on the ladder. Hautapu slip down to fourth.
The other match-up saw Suburbs win at home 53-0, scoring nine tries and holding a perfect clean sheet on defence for their third consecutive match.
Division One threw up some tight affairs across several matches on Saturday afternoon.
Hinuera reclaim top-of-the-table bragging rights for a week with a tight 19-14 win at home over Ōhaupō – their second consecutive win at home by less than five points.
Leamington travelled down to Tokoroa to take on Southern United and a true Leamington versus SURF match-up was delivered.
The home side snuck home 24-23 and jumped to second on the ladder over Suburbs, who won at home versus Putāruru 26-21.
All three sides are within four points of each other on the ladder, each losing only one game throughout the season.
Hinuera will have the bye this weekend so Suburbs and Southern United could overtake them on the ladder, displacing them from the top spot.
Elsewhere, Te Rapa won at home over Kereone, 27-7.
Each week the Morrinsville-based side edge closer to that first elusive win back in Division One, which could come this weekend when they host fellow strugglers Frankton, who lost 101-0 to Taupiri at Murphy Lane.
For the second consecutive week, the young men from Pirongia have experienced heartache in defeat – this time going down to University 23-22 in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon.
The difference between the two was the boot of University’s Benjamin Hedley, who kicked the penalty goal which ultimately was the difference between the sides, who each scored four tries and were unsuccessful in all eight conversion attempts.
Leamington hosted Morrinsville Sports in Cambridge and picked up a tight 29-27 win at home, their third win of the season. They now sit just behind Morrinsville on the ladder.
Top side Hamilton Marist headed out to Hinuera but their 21-5 win was not enough to maintain the top spot over Hautapu, who won by default versus United Matamata Sports.
The three tries in Hinuera for Hamilton Marist weren’t enough to pick up the bonus point and they dropped to second place on the ladder behind Hautapu with three rounds remaining.
In other results, Suburbs won 52-5 at home over Fraser Tech and Hamilton Old Boys won 31-17 over Thames Valley United.
Morrinsville Sports kept their perfect season alive with a 12-8 win over Hamilton Marist at Campbell Park.
Tries to Sam Fitness and Jakob McClelland were enough for the home side to beat Hamilton Marist, who are in a three-way battle for second place with Melville and Fraser Tech.
The defeat sees Marist drop to fourth, three points behind second-placed Fraser Tech and two points behind third-placed Melville.
Melville travelled to Leamington and won 44-14, running in eight tries to two, whileFraser Tech headed south and won 31-10 against Kio Kio.
In a big match-up this coming weekend, Fraser Tech will host Morrinsville Sports in Hamilton in a one-versus-two match-up, while Melville will host Kio Kio and Hamilton Marist host Leamington.
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