Right from the start both teams looked to dominate up front - smashing into one another, with scant regard for their opponents or their own safety.
The 23-year-old said there was always plenty of feeling in a match between Rotoiti and Whaka.
"This is the town rivalry really. We hate them just as much they hate us. We're all mates off the field and that, but definitely we owed these fullas one, and it was good to get it really."
On paper and prior to the match, Rotoiti (a young side), with first time coach Wayne Ormond, carried the underdog tag - but with youth comes enthusiasm and belief that anything is possible.
As for the Kevin Lee-coached Whaka side, they showed last week they have a slick back line that can score from anywhere on the field, and a forward pack who know no other way than straight up the guts.
Unfortunately, for Whaka, they went into this match with no reserve backs - a number of them out with injury. It would be something that would come back to haunt the home side late in the second spell.
In the first 40 minutes of the match, both sides struggled to get any consistency, with lineout throws going astray and players struggling to hold on to the ball.
It was left up to the two sides' first-fives to open the scoring.
Rotoiti's Quade Langeveldt was first with a penalty from a ruck, but Whaka's Tyson Ripia responded 10 minutes later when he nailed a kick from 30m out from the Rotoiti line after Rotoiti were guilty of hands in the ruck.
Langeveldt pushed his side ahead with another penalty from 32m in frontafter Whaka forwards were caught offside at the ruck.
Rotoiti seemed to gain confidence from the lead, and their forwards started to make inroads through good pick-and-go. The visitors often found themselves camped on Whaka's goal line and looked more likely to score, but would cough up possession.
With the first half end nearing Rotoiti managed to make their way to within 5m of Whaka's line.
Rotoiti halfback Joe Fenton marshalled his forwards to continue to drive and were rewarded when Acton charged over to score. With the conversion successful, Rotoiti went into the break 13-3 up.
Whaka needed to be the first to score on resumption, and did through the boot of Ripia, who slotted three penalties in a row. Their forwards, led by captain Dave Marinkovich, started to dominate the contact area, giving their backs some good go-forward. This opened the way for Whaka's second-five John Ririnui to show off his line breaking skills.
At 13-12 to Rotoiti, and Whaka seemingly starting to get on top of the situation, it appeared only a matter of time before the home side took the lead.
Then the wheels came off the Whaka backline machine - first Ririnui limped off with what appeared to be an ankle injury, and right wing Tetihi Vercoe was helped off the field with a rib injury.
The injuries meant Lee had to reshuffle his team - big Pauli Asaeli moved from the left wing to second-five, and halfback Chris Miller and openside flanker Liam Coleman moved to the wings.
It wasn't ideal, but Lee wasn't using the changes as an excuse for his team's loss.
"They just played better than us. Their forwards were clearly better than ours. I'm disappointed with the loss ... Now the Baywide is our main focus."
The reshuffle seemed to unsettle Whaka and they started to lose momentum at the break down and the set piece.
With 5 minutes left on the clock, Rotoiti turned down two kickable penalties and kicked for the corner.
Acton managed to charge over for his second try and the game was sealed just before full-time when left wing Josefata Tawake picked up a lose ball and crashed over in the corner.
Scorers:
Rotoiti 25 (Jesse Acton 2, Josefata Tawake tries; Quade Langeveldt 3 pens, 2 cons) Whakarewarewa 12 (Tyson Ripia 4 pens) Halftime: 13-3
