Pirates stake semis claim

Pirates finally held up their hand for a Wanganui rugby semi-final spot on Saturday, upsetting second-placed Ruapehu 13-11 to bring the club to within 0.5 of a point of fourth-placed Ratana.
Kaierau's five points from the default by Taihape makes it certain Kaierau will now have home advantage for any semi and final.
Marist's good recent form took another step with a 25-12 win over Ratana, and Utiku repeated its first-round win over Marton to complete the third-to-last round. All matches were played in dreadful weather.
At Spriggens Park: Pirates 13 (John Guthrie try, 2pen, con) Ruapehu 11 (Sheldon O'Hagen try; Jim Doolin 2pen). HT: Pirates 10-8.
The further this match went, the harder Pirates' tackles and determination came.
Clearly the Ruapehu players had gone through the hard work of travelling for some time through bad weather to make the game, and that might have had some effect, because they never really played with the sting expected.
The Ruapehu domination was in the scrum area ? and that disappeared in the final quarter when Pirates pulled their master-stroke and introduced rep captain Mike Thompson to loosehead prop.
Thompson had been struggling with a hamstring problem, but his introduction stopped the effect big Kim McNaught was having.
There was never a lot in this match, but Pirates, through strong efforts from Andrew Slight, No 8 Dan Clavelle, young lock Mike Fitzgerald and Thompson ? along with some very smart tactical kicking from little Scottish halfback Graham Calder, seemed to have just a slight edge throughout. Lock Sheldon O'Hagen, flanker Todd Wise, and McNaught had good matches for Ruapehu in the forwards, as did the experienced Jim Doolin in the backline.
At Ratana: Marist 25 (Robert Hughes 2, Lee Peina, Marcel Hulbert tries; Steelie Koro pen con) Ratana 12 (Richie Ropata 2 tries; Dwayne Corfield con). HT: Marist 13-12.
The return of experienced halfback Lee Peina came at the right time, the little man handling the difficult conditions superbly to guide Marist to an important victory.
What's more the side scored four tries for an important bonus point. With the forwards playing soundly, Peina fed young first-five Steelie Koro well and he reacted with a very sound performance.
And at fullback, former Ratana player Robert Hughes returned it to his old club with a very big performance under the high ball, kicking and returning it with ball in hand.
"A good, allround team performance," Marist coach Andy Transom said.
Conditions were dreadful, and Ratana team manager Ken Morton reported a total lack of interest in the contents of the chilly bin when he took it into the home team's dressing room after the game. "They wanted a cup of tea," he said.
At Taihape: Utiku OB 10 (Adam Coogan try; Shane Kavanagh pen con) Marton 3 (Bruce Galpin pen). HT: Utiku 10-3.
Utiku did enough in the first half to win this match, and was then put under siege by a Marton side desperate to crack that first win of the season.
But losing becomes a habit and one hard to get rid of, and Marton couldn't put points on the board, despite all the pressure of the second half.
Utiku thus ended with a deserved win, especially after losing both usual starting props in the 24 hours leading up to the match.
Big Lance Devane cut a hand on the farm and had to have stitches, while Glen Thomas had to attend a family illness. Coach Paul Kavanagh shifted English hooker Tom Browes to prop and the visiting player responded with a man-of-the-match effort.
Skipper JJ Walker was also strong in the forwards, and youngster Shane Kavanagh had one of his best senior matches on the wing.
Wing Matt Lopdell, No 8 Asefa Talalima and loosie Damon Williamson were the best for Marton.