Rugged rugby finals

It was a day of finals for the district's rugby teams on Saturday, with Inglewood tackling the Division 1 final and the Stratford Senior Bs, Stratford Colts and Toko Subsidiary 3rds all rallying for wins at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth.
An elated Inglewood side managed to take a win, as did Toko. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the Senior Bs and the Colts both lost their final matches.
Facing New Plymouth Old Boys, Inglewood played an excellent match to take its first Division 1 title since 1989. Despite trailing 7-6 at half time, and after a few shaky line-outs and a hugely pressured scrum, the boys in maroon managed to pull it together and win commandingly.
Kurt Morath was the commanding presence in the game, kicking four penalties, sending a conversion over, scoring a wonderfully intercepted try and booting a perfectly timed drop goal to help lead the side to a 32-12 win.
Faapuloa Soolefai and Mark Neilson also headed over the try line, adding to the team's points haul.
"We are very pleased. The game went well and ultimately we took the win. We started off a wee bit scratchy but settled down and found our confidence in the second half and started to move the ball more accurately. I didn't really feel relaxed until three or four minutes before the game ended and Kurt Morath had scored a try and got the drop goal.
It was a good result and both the senior players and the young guys played really well," said Inglewood coach Lyal Bunn.
Also victors on finals day were the Toko Subsidiary 3rds who took a win over Southern. The win was made all the more sweet as it was the third year in a row they have won the title.
Playing hard, the team were down at half time and were to suffer more loss when Aaron Oakes was taken from the field with a seriously broken leg five minutes into the second half, following a bad fall in a tackle.
Not ones to bow down to adversity, the Toko boys came back to win the match 17-14, with tries going to Matthew Fabish and Jade Searancke. Shaan Caskey utilised his boot, converting both tries and kicking over a penalty.
"We are a small town and we have made it three in a row. The boys all played really well," commented coach Wayne Salisbury.
The Stratford Senior B side looked set to take a win over Eltham/Kaponga during its final, taking advantage of mistakes made by the opposition early on, and scoring two tries within 16 minutes.
The team failed to capitalise on their early points and despite being ahead at half time, they succumbed to the pressure of the Eltham/Kaponga side, going down 20-15. The Colts knew they would have a tough game at hand, playing defending champions Francis Douglas Memorial College.
No one could seem to find the try line despite a huge attacking effort from both sides and the only points on the board at half time were two penalties to Francis Douglas.
The score was locked up for the remainder of the game as both teams pushed each other to the limit but the win went to Francis Douglas, taking the game 6-0 and earning their third successive Taranaki Colts title.
The Inglewood Seniors won the Division 1 club final. Back Row: Troy Peri, Greg Ritchie, Berry Asi, Rowan Burgess, Jamie Brocklehurst, Phil Patu, Ian Powell, Shane Naus, Gavin Midgley.
2nd back row: James McSeveny, Owen Evans, Simon Gillum, Cameron Gall, Lance White, Stefan Crofskey, Jarrad Peters, Kelvin Purdie, Bobby Jones.
2nd row: Chris Brown, Pete Peri, Tom Zimmerman, Mike Gyde (Manager), Ian Marshall (Assistant Coach), Lyall Bunn (Coach), Charlie Brown (Coach), Brian Curtis (Assistant Manager), Darryl Macks, Timo Tutavaha, Faapulou Soolefai. Front row: Richard Stieller, Kurt Morath, Jake Eti, Mark Neilson, Gemaine Anaha (Captain), Matt Harvey, Ace Malo, Mark Hale, Kevin Gyde.
Front, sitting: Thomas Brown (Ball Boy), Nick Fabish (Ball Boy), Simon Marsh (Assistant Manager).