Whakarewarewa earn last minute draw against Tauranga Sports

A never say die attitude earned Whakarewarewa a 27-all draw against Tauranga Sports in the premier 1 division.

Whaka made things hard for themselves early in the game as a string of penalties allowed Tauranga to score three unconverted tries and shoot out to a 15-0 lead.

Before the third try Whaka lock and captain David Marinkovich was sin binned for allegedly rucking an opposition player in the head.

However, he made amends almost immediately when he came back on.

With five minutes to go until halftime Whaka were trailing 15-3, after a Doug Edwards drop goal, when winger Shaquille Stone made a break near halfway.

He passed inside to halfback Keegan Rowley, who drew the last defender and put Marinkovich in under the posts.

Whaka had worked themselves back into the game and were seeing more of the ball.

Right on halftime, after a period of sustained pressure inside the Tauranga 22m, hooker Jesse Mason Grant drove over the try line to score to the left of the posts.

First five-eighth Kelly Haimona converted to give Whaka a 17-15 lead at the break.

After halftime Whaka threatened to let the game get away from them as Tauranga scored two tries to lead 27-17 with 25 minutes to go.

A host of substitutions provided Whaka with some momentum and on the 65 minute mark they received a penalty right in front, which Haimona kicked to get his side back within seven points.

Whaka threw everything at Tauranga during the last 10 minutes but came up against some exceptional try line defence.

In the final seconds of the game the pressure paid off as, on the back of a scrum inside the Tauranga 22m, Whaka player Hiini Reweti bulldozed his way over the try line to score.

Haimona nailed the high-pressure conversion and the game finished 27-27.

Whakarewarewa coach Joe Savage said the way his players fought back for the draw would give them more self-belief going into the remaining games.

"A draw is better than a loss.

"The boys showed the resilience to come through and actually want to do better than previous weeks," Savage said.

While pleased with the draw, he was disappointed with the way Whaka let Tauranga take the lead early on.

"We try to come out with a hiss and a roar but unfortunately we got on the wrong side of the ref a few times and were camped at our own end.

"But even then we showed a lot of resilience trying to defend our line - the forwards played tremendously today."

He said, despite the yellow card, Marinkovich had an "outstanding" game.

"He brought inspiration to the team when we needed it and led pretty well.

"If we can put out a performance like that against Mount Maunganui next weekend I think we'll give ourselves a good chance of winning.

"Hopefully we can build on this performance."

RESULTS
Baywide Premier 1:
Mount Maunganui 25 Greerton Marist 5; Rotoiti 20 Te Puke Sports 13; Rangataua 19 Te Puna 18; Whakarewarewa 27 Tauranga Sports 27.

Baywide Premier 1 Development:
Greerton Marist 20 Mount Maunganui 14; Te Puke Sports 27 Rotoiti 0; Te Puna 42 Rangataua 21; Tauranga Sports 29 v Whakarewarewa 10.

Baywide Premier 2:
Paroa 36 Whakatane Marist 28; Ngongotaha 31 Poroporo 10; Waikite 20 Marist St Michael's 5; Opotiki v Arataki - no result received.

Baywide Premier 2 Development:
Paroa 25 Whakatane Marist 22; Ngongotaha 16 Poroporo 13; Waikite 17 Marist St Michael's 12; Opotiki v Arataki - no result received.

Baywide Division 1:
Papamoa 12 Judea 7; Katikati 27 Rangiuru 22; Te Teko 33 Kahukura 17; Waimana v Ruatoki - no result received.