Instead, Kaierau’s playmakers sparked another fourth-quarter derby blitz.
First, the cast-iron veteran Ace Malo showed what was possible with a brilliant no-look inside ball for acting captain Ethan Robinson to slice Marist open and set up the eventual try for fullback Sheldon Pakinga.
His job done, Malo then departed for Robinson to move from second-five to first receiver and now, with his blood up, the skipper made a succession of line breaks and scored a great try himself from a show-and-go near Marist’s line for a 12-point scoring burst while a man down.
In reply, Marist reverted to basic errors with missed lineouts, being in front on a restart, a succession of dropped tackles, and finally losing halfback Daniel Kauika to the sin bin for a similar professional foul to Malancagi when desperately defending his tryline.
It was great to see Kaierau’s Joe Edwards come off the bench for his first match in one-and-a-half seasons and, finally, Malancagi redeemed with the long ball for Lalanabaravi to dance around his marker and score with 11 minutes left and leave his team safe.
Marist had their moments – winger C.J. Stowers showing strength to get the ball down and score early after a great offload by centre Akiwa Koro, while hooker-turned-flanker Alesana Tofa was the one player who gave the hosts real concern with his attacking runs.
But even late in the game when searching for a consolation try, Marist made too many mistakes, meaning coach Steelie Koro goes back to the drawing board.
“I don’t know what it is. It’s hard trying to find that balance – putting consistent games together.
“That break last week had that effect – whether it helps teams by good for injuries [recovery], but it can stop a bit of momentum there.
“I was telling our team, ‘we created enough opportunities to take advantage of it, but just didn’t recognise enough of it and take those chances’.
“In this level, you got to take what you can get, and I think the faster our young team can understand that, then we’ll be really good in that top four.”
After their tough loss last-up with Byford’s Readmix Taihape, Kaierau coach Danny Tamehana was pleased to see his players suddenly snap into their continuity at the business end of the game.
“It was actually quite weird, because when Peceli went to the bin, I think individuals there – especially Ethan – stepped up.
“Moving him into No 10, getting his hands on the ball a bit more, just using a bit more space and time was mean.
“We played with a bit of width, and just held on to the pill a little bit, because that first half was stop-start and we couldn’t get into it.”
Tamehana was also delighted to welcome back the likes of Edwards after such a long layoff, as well as Claassen and prop Raymond.
“Having these vital players will be crucial for our team.”
Kaierau 34 (E. Claassen 2, J. Lalanabaravi 2, S. Pakinga, E. Robinson tries; Robinson 2 con) bt Marist 16 (C. Stowers, I. Hough tries; W. Morgan 2 pen). HT: 17-8.
