Kahukura had all the possession in the opening 20 minutes, but struggled to get over the try line. Preston kicked another penalty to take the lead to 6-0.
After kicking a third penalty in the 35th minute, it looked as if Kahukura would take a 9-0 lead into halftime. Throughout the half, tempers threatened to boil over as passion and aggression turned to niggle. A scuffle broke out seconds before the halftime break and Kahukura were forced to play the second half with 14 men after prop Steve Orr was red carded for throwing a punch.
Papamoa kicked the resulting penalty to make it 9-3 at the break.
It did not take Papamoa long to make use of their advantage in the second half. They had Kahukura under the pump on their own try line. After receiving a penalty and kicking for touch, Papamoa's Tio Hanuera drove over from close range to score the opening try of the match. The try was converted to make it 10-9 to Papamoa, their first lead of the game.
That try appeared to spark Kahukura into life and, despite their numerical disadvantage, they turned the ball over after the kick-off and went on the attack inside the Papamoa 22m. Preston showed great awareness, picking the ball up off the back of the ruck and racing through a gap untouched to score his side's first try and take his personal points tally to 14.
The middle of the second half was very stop-start as both teams gave away countless penalties. With 20 minutes left to play Kahukura first five Drew Lima kicked one from 40m out to make it 17-10.
Papamoa threw everything at Kahukura, knowing they were a converted try away from squaring things up. With five minutes left to play a Kahukura player was sin binned, making for a nervy end to the game for their supporters. They showed great desire, however, to hold out the opposition and remain unbeaten in 2018.
Kahukura coach Ron Preston said his side's effort was "willing".
"We sort of got into a bit of a street fight with them, but I said to them at halftime 'if you just play a bit clever, play for territory, the result will come'.
"Papamoa are always hard, whether we play them there or here. They were up for it tonight," Preston said.
In regards to the successful start Kahukura have had to the season, he said it was "early days yet".
"We've got a good team spirit and good numbers. Unfortunately, one of our goals this year was to have a senior B team, but we haven't been able to do that, hence all the numbers we've got. Hopefully in the future we can do that so everyone can play."
He said the players enjoyed playing under lights.
"They love it, this is what rugby is all about. Everyone wanted to get on the field tonight and the support was awesome."
