Utiku reign in emotional tribute to lost clubmate

The country teams had worthwhile trips into town as Marton and an inspired Utiku Old Boys picked up Week 8 victories in Wanganui premier rugby on Saturday.

On an emotional afternoon at Kaierau Country Club, Utiku premiers were victorious on a day dedicated to senior team hooker Hamish Allan, who was killed in a fire at his home near Taihape the previous Saturday evening.

Having been just denied by Pirates the previous Saturday, Utiku bounced back while dealing Kaierau's hopes of breaking into the top four a hard blow.

Despite being outscored two tries to one, Utiku got home on the boot of first-five Te Rangi Tapu McLeod, who scored the only points of the second half.

Two wins and a narrow loss against decent opposition in the past three weeks represents a big turnaround for the team who have lifted well out of the wooden spoon position.

Across town at Spriggens Park, another surprise package of Round 1, Marton, also stayed in touch with the top four after running in three second-half tries for a 27-5 win over bottom-placed Marist.

The men in green gave their suffering supporters a little cause for optimism when a Grayson Tihema try earned them a narrow halftime lead.

However, three converted five pointers from Perenise Enoka, Tyler Rogers-Holden and Salu Peneli secured the result.

Taking the bye this weekend, Pirates wrapped up a middling first round by winning their third game on the trot, beating Ratana at home 18-5.

A Josh Navitio penalty was all that separated the teams at the break, but Pirates kicked on with their second try to run out 13-point victors.

In senior rugby, Hunterville bounced back from their loss to Celtic to secure top spot on the ladder with a 19-3 win over St John's Tech.

However Taihape's recent unhappy run continued when they were beaten 29-20 by Counties, allowing Celtic to take over second place after they dominated the second half of their Stihl Shop Wanganui Challenge Shield derby with Marist, winning 33-5.

Ruapehu also entered the top four in emphatic style, as again the young Border team were taken to task away from home, hammered 81-7 at Rochfort Park.

In the game they dedicated to their lost team mate, Utiku were not quite able to overcome Kaierau going down 34-24.