Rotoiti dominant in Baywide Premier victory over Whakatane Marist

A strong first half performance from Rotoiti secured the teams' third win of the season on the weekend. Photo/File

It was a weekend of contrast for Rotorua teams in the Baywide Premier.

On the positive Rotoiti celebrated a defiant 54-17 win over struggling Whakatane Marist at Rugby Park, in round six of the competition.

Comments concerning Rotoiti's poor away form from Baden Wardlaw leading up to the match had clearly struck a chord as the away team pushed ahead to a 35-0 lead at half-time.

In a scrappy and much closer second half Whakatane pulled some pride back but it was too much of an up hill battle in the end for the home side who are yet to record a win this season.

Rotoiti coach Richard Francis said a strong performance in "all areas" during the first half was key to his side's third win of the season and highlighted a hat-trick of tries from No 8 Abe Tito and two touch downs for forward Raniera Whakataka.

"We ticked all the boxes and I'm happy we got a win on the road," he said. "I was most pleased with the first half performance - Abe and Raniera put in solid display but it was a team effort and because of strong leadership we established a great lead that couldn't be caught.

"Credit to Whakatane - they came at us more in the second. I felt it all became a bit messy and we lost structure towards the end, that's something we need to have a look at and focus on this week."

Meanwhile Whakarewarewa were left disappointed after a close 27-25 defeat against Paroa at Lawson Park - a game they lost after giving away a penalty, for not releasing in the ruck, in the final play of the match.

Whaka head coach Joe Savage said he was "gutted" with the result and said basic handling errors really let his team down.

"I'm pretty gutted, our performance was a fair reflection of how not to play rugby.

"The last penalty decision really did cost us right at the end but we had failed to do things right throughout the game.

"Our general ball skills and poor ball handling mistakes meant any momentum gained was then lost and our set piece wasn't up to scratch either.

Savage added playing a match on Easter Monday, in a hefty 62-21 win against Whakatane, hadn't affected his side.

"It's a quick turn around but we were prepared well and there was no issues because of that.

"Playing away from home is something we've really looked at as a few results haven't gone our way so we were very prepared. We'll go back and have a look at what we can do differently - I'm not sure what that is at the moment though."

Elsewhere Tauranga are top of the Baywide Premier table after a 35-24 win over Te Puna Sports at Tauranga Domain on Saturday.

Baywide Club rugby results

Baywide Premier:

Whakatane Marist 17 Rotoiti 54

Paroa 27 Whakarewarewa 25

Tauranga Sports 35 Te Puna 24

Poroporo 0 Rangataua 62

Mount Maunganui 23 Greerton Marist 21

Arataki 24 Te Puke 49

Baywide Development results:

Whakatane Marist 12 Rotoiti 59

Paroa 5 Whakarewarewa 15

Tauranga Sports 10 Te Puna 27

Poroporo 22 Rangataua 75

Mount Maunganui 27 Greerton Marist 10

Arataki 31 Te Puke 48