A bevy of Marist defenders try to halt the progress of Greytown prop Jaden Mason during Saturday’s Tui Cup match won by Greytown 46-14. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
RUGBY
GARY CAFFELL
Nobody could quibble about the end result when Carterton upset Martinborough 24-20 in their Wairarapa-Bush Tui Cup premier division rugby match at Martinborough on Saturday.
While the game was a niggly, stop-start affair, which never rose to any great heights because of penalties and basic errors, Carterton had more intensity in their effort through the course of the 80 minutes.
And that was despite playing most of the second half with 14 men after prop Connor Baker was red-carded.
In fact, it could be argued with some justification that the end result flattered Martinborough.
It was only in the last 10 minutes or so that they played anything like the type of rugby which had seen them go through their previous four games without defeat.
From 3-24 down, they eventually came to within a try of securing victory but anything more would not have painted a true picture of how the game evolved.
That Carterton got out to such a commanding advantage was due in large part to the assertiveness of their forwards who ripped into their work with a will from the opening whistle.
Flanker Ethan Pinfold, who showed electrifying pace in scoring his team’s first try, was here, there and everywhere on both attack and defence, and others like Lachie McFadzean and Isaac Dalton, both of whom also scored tries, and Brock Price, were little behind.
Prop Baker may have blotted his copybook by being sent off, but had also made a decent impression with his high workrate before that happened.
Martinborough’s forwards were, for the most part, surprisingly docile in comparison to their Carterton counterparts and were guilty of turning over ball all too often, particularly in the mauls and in tackle situations.
Both backlines failed to get any real continuity into their attacking play with simple passing and handling mistakes being made on a regular basis.
Centre Nicholas Gordon provided most of the spark whenever Carterton did manage to move the ball wide and there was an admirable solidity about the tactical direction provided by halfback Daryl Pickering and first-five Utah Walker.
Martinborough built most of their attacks, particularly in the first half, around their two usually penetrative runners Nikora Ewe and Tipene Haira, but they were generally well-contained by a sturdy Carterton defence.
The home team also had a case of the “dropsies” more often than they would have liked.
Two other premier division matches were played on Saturday, with Marist keeping Greytown honest through the early stages of their encounter at Memorial Park No 1, only for the floodgates to open with the southerners winning by 46-14.
Three of Greytown’s eight tries were scored by pacy outside back AJ Manley, with others going to Tana Isaac, Taylor Fenwick, Max McGilvary, Jaden Mason and Rihi Brown.
Brown kicked one conversion and Mooloo Falaniko one. Malatai Malatai and Blair Gardner scored tries for Marist and Malatai also landed two conversions.
East Coast ran in four tries through Brian Arnold, Joe Feast Remi and Colt Pureau in scoring a 31-14 victory over Masterton Red Star on Memorial Park No 1.
In Friday night’s match under lights at Gladstone, the home team maintained their unbeaten record with a 59-12 defeat of Eketahuna.
Senior reserve results:
Gladstone 13, Eketahuna 10; Greytown 20, Marist 17; Puketoi 21, Pioneer 20; Featherston 98, East Coast 5; Carterton 48, Pioneer Old Boys 0.
