Ponies canter to comprehensive win

Club rugby round-up
Auckland

The Ponsonby rugby machine rolls on. While two of Ponsonby's closest rivals for the Auckland premier one first round championship struggled more than they should have yesterday, Ponsonby easily accounted 45-13 for the other top four team, Grammar Carlton.

There was only one team in it at Western Springs Stadium, as Ponsonby scored six tries, with first five-eighths Brett Williams again displaying his all-round talents with a try, three conversions, two penalties and a dropped goal.

Waitakere City, four points adrift of Ponsonby on the first round points table, led Te Papapa Onehunga 20-0 at halftime but their opponents scored two tries and a penalty for a final score of 25-13.

Meanwhile, University only just scraped home against East Tamaki, winning 21-20.

Marist made it two wins in their past two outings, beating Roskill Districts 20-8, while Pakuranga won their first match of the season, upsetting Otahuhu 20-8. Roskill Districts is now in danger of relegation.

Waitemata, meanwhile, looks certain to regain premier one status. They remain unbeaten in premier two after disposing of Tamaki 41-0 yesterday. Suburbs' winning run, however, came to an abrupt end when Manukau beat them 19-12. Eden beat College Rifles 34-13.

North Harbour

Helensville achieved a proud double when the premier first round concluded yesterday with the crossover finals - not only hosting all of the Harbour clubs in the annual field day but also winning the premier final, outplaying Takapuna 18-14.

Helensville hero was second five- eighths Kris Stokes. He comprehensively contained Takapuna danger man Steve Skinner.

Helensville started with a smart backline try to centre Puanini Hunai, which was quickly cancelled out when Takapuna rolled a lineout maul for prop Adrian Donald to score.

The turning point came right on halftime, when, with Takapuna hot on attack, fullback Ngarimu Blair capitalised on a breakdown and created a try for wing Scott Stokes.

In the third place playoff, Marist beat Northcote 25-8, with Rudi Wulf continuing his comeback.

In other playoffs, North Shore, Silverdale and Massey showed they could all be contenders with comfortable wins. Shore beat East Coast Bays 40-5, Silverdale beat Glenfield 37-22 and Massey over-ran Kumeu 44-0.

Counties Manukau

In blustery conditions at Karaka, the home side's experienced inside back combination of Ben Meyer, Troy Nathan and Tevita Tuifua controlled play and Nathan constantly pushed Ardmore Marist into their 22 with long, accurate kicks.

Poor discipline was a feature of the game and Karaka opened the scoring with two Nathan penalties. They also added a converted try to Meyer and another to strong winger Pasila Wilson, who is making a habit of scoring tries.

Even 18-3 down at halftime, Ardmore Marist supporters were hoping the wind was worth at least 15 points. However, ill discipline continued and the team played 30 minutes of the second half with 14 men, with three players sin-binned for indiscretions.

Nathan added a penalty but in the last 10 minutes of the match, Ardmore gained some respect through tries to Anzac Luteru and Carwyn Chase. A Lawson conversion ensured a bonus point, with the final score 21-15 to Karaka.