"As I've said ... in the past any wins a good win. Yeah [it] was disappointing last week but I'm glad the boys have bounced back and they deserved it. They worked hard during the week," Stone said.
It looked like the hard training had paid off with Whaka opening their points account in the 14th minute from a well worked try off the back of a solid Whaka scrum on the 22m line.
Halfback Chris van der Vlugt, took the ball from the scrum fired a bullet-like pass to first-five Bauro Kairaoi, he skip passed it to a charging Dougie Edwards, who off loaded to fullback Chris Miller who ran into space and sprinted 20m to score in the left hand corner.
"It's good to see set plays coming off. You know, what's the point in practising [them] if we're not going to try them."
Stone put his side's domination in the first half down to a solid scrum foundation with Peter "Boxer" Smith, Trent Sweeney and new player Tamahau Palmer. The trio was devastating at scrum time ripping into its opponents like ravenous lions.
Whaka would score two more tries in the first half to Chanse Perham and James O'Neill.
First-five Kairaoi had a poor time with the boot only able to kick a conversion and one penalty but a strong south-easterly didn't make it an easy job for the kickers on Saturday.
The visitors showed grit in the first half and when they did get quality ball, they were effective especially with the pick and go. Their efforts with the ball were rewarded in the 35th minute, when centre Chad Jacob latched on to a pass to score in the corner after sustained pressure by his forwards.
Although second-five Sam Beard nailed an earlier penalty, he wasn't able to get the direction for Jacob's try.
The visitors, came out for the second with venom, smashing into a startled Whaka side who appeared to struggle with Mount's intensity.
With only three minutes on the clock Mount had their second try to Caleb Oakes which was converted by Beard.
Mount Maunganui lifted and kept Whaka stuck in their danger zone for most of the second half and when Miller went down with an ankle injury, the visitors sniffed a scent of victory. In the 25th minute the visitors took the lead when Matty Axtens barged over in the corner for Beard to convert and have the score 22-20 in their favour.
Miller succumbed to his injury and was fortuitously replaced by Ririnui who was only on the field for about 5 minutes when he took the deciding penalty kick.
It was heartbreak for the Mount but ecstasy for the Whaka supporters and players.
Other results in the round:
Tauranga Sports beat Rotoiti 42-22, Rangataua beat Paroa 35-22, Te Puke Sports beat Greerton 39-17, Opotiki beat Te Puna 52-24. In division one; Poroporo beat Katikati 34-29, Kahukura beat Ruatoki 32-14, Te Teko beat Ngongotaha 51-17, Whakatane Marist beat Rangiuru 26-19 and Waikite beat Marist St Michaels 24-12.
Scorers:
Whakarewarewa; 23 (C Miller, C Perham, J O'Neill tries; B Kairaoi 1 con, 1 pen, J Ririnui 1 pen) Mount Maunganui; 22 (C Jacob, C Oakes, M Axtens tries; S Beard 1 pen, 2 cons) Halftime: 20-8
