West Coast win as Bush let down guard

ATTACKING FORCE: Viliami Hala (right) scored one of Wairarapa-Bush's five tries. PHOTO/FILE

Wairarapa-Bush got some of their own medicine when West Coast kicked a last-minute penalty to win their Heartland championship match at Greymouth on Saturday, 36-33.

Earlier in the competition Wairarapa-Bush had beaten Buller by a solitary point courtesy of a try scored right on the tick of full time being converted from wide out by skipper Tim Priest.

There was some good news from their latest defeat for Wairarapa-Bush, though. They picked up two bonus points, one for the effort of scoring five tries and the other for finishing within seven or less points of the winning side.

Those bonus points could be crucial as they battle for Meads Cup and Lochore Cup playoff places over the next three weeks.

Currently they sit in sixth place in the competition, but so congested is the points table that a loss against Horowhenua-Kapiti in Masterton next weekend could see them disappear out of the all-important top eight. And, conversely, a win would very probably keep their top-four hopes alive.

For those who judge the value of a game by the number of tries scored, Saturday's match at Greymouth would have passed the test with flying colours. There were nine all told, Wairarapa-Bush scoring five and West Coast four.

In the end, though, it was the goalkicking that had the final say, with West Coast having a slightly better record there.

Wairarapa-Bush must have been strongly fancying their chances of success when they raced out to a commanding 18-6 lead with just 15 minutes of the first half remaining. But to West Coast's credit they fought back strongly and by half-time it was even stevens at 18-18.

It was a similar story in the second half, Wairarapa-Bush starting with a hiss and a roar and running in two unconverted tries to lead 28-18 and West Coast recovering to take the lead for the first time halfway through the second spell at 30-28. A penalty stretched that advantage to 33-28 before Wairarapa-Bush scored another unconverted try just four minutes from full time to level things up at 33-33. Then came that last-minute penalty, which West Coast kicker Nic Cummings put between the posts to clinch victory.

Wairarapa-Bush will probably look back on this game as one that got away.

In both halves they established leads big enough to suggest they were well on the way to picking up the maximum points, but they tended to undo themselves through shoddy defence that allowed the home team to regain their composure and, in the end, steal the win.

Hooker Andrew Makalio was the standout player for Wairarapa-Bush, as he has been for most of this Heartland campaign. He relished any chance to demonstrate his uncanny abilities to beat defenders with sleight of hand and nifty footwork and the two tries he scored were a just reward for what was a hugely impressive individual performance.

James Goodger was another Wairarapa-Bush forward to impress, both for his lineout play and his mobility in the loose, and lock James Wall and No8 So'otala Fa'oso'o were also prominent. Halfback Cody Whittaker provided a snappy service for the Wairarapa-Bush backs and made a couple of darting runs that had the West Coast defence stretched.

First-five Tim Priest was typically solid and Paul Tikomainavalu generally made the most of his chances in an attacking sense.

Regan Stanton, Andrew Connors, Brad Houston and Nic Cummings scored tries for West Coast and Cummings added two conversions and three penalties.

Andrew Makalio (2), Cody Whittaker, Paul Tikomainavalu and Viliami Hala were the try scorers for Wairarapa-Bush and Tim Priest kicked one conversion and two penalties.

In other Heartland matches played on Saturday Horowhenua-Kapiti upset North Otago 26-22, Mid-Canterbury beat an improving East Coast 50-32, South Canterbury beat Thames Valley 35-19, Buller beat Poverty Bay 36-14 and Wanganui and King Country drew 17-17.

Competition points (unofficial): Mid-Canterbury 22, South Canterbury 20, Wanganui 18, Horowhenua-Kapiti 17, North Otago 13, Wairarapa-Bush 12, West Coast 11, King Country 11, Thames Valley 10, Buller 10, Poverty Bay 9, East Coast 1.