AJ Manley scoring for Greytown against Pioneer last season. He was a try-scorer on Tuesday night against Eketahuna. PHOTO/FILE
RUGBY
JAKE BELESKI
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Greytown kicked their Tui Cup campaign into gear on Tuesday night with a 28-8 away win over Eketahuna.
The match was originally scheduled to be played in round two on April 14, but had to be postponed.
Both sides were searching for their first win of the season – Greytown started with a draw and a loss while Eketahuna had suffered two losses.
Shayne Harmon, Matt Henderson, AJ Manley and Nate Iro were the try-scorers for Greytown, and former Samoan age group representative Moo Moo Falaniko added four conversions.
Greytown coach Eli Telford said he was “fairly happy” with the performance, but there were always areas to improve on.
“It wasn’t as tidy as I would have liked . . . it was only our third match in and we’re still building into it.”
“I haven’t had too much time to reflect but it was definitely a big improvement from last week.”
Telford was pleased with the way his team had come together and fixed some of the issues they encountered in last week’s loss to Gladstone.
“We adjusted well to the game plan, the referee and the conditions and the senior players led from the front.
“There’s several factors that go into the performance, but we adjusted well and identified what we needed to do.”
The win had Greytown moving into fourth on the points table after three rounds, with the unbeaten Martinborough and Gladstone teams out in front.
Eketahuna have slipped to seventh, with just one point from their three matches to date.
Telford said he had not set his side any particular goals before the season had started, but everybody in the competition was working towards the same target.
“We’ve all got one common goal in mind.
“For me, it’s about getting the players to take the onus on themselves and work things out as we go.
“I was really happy with how they did that [Tuesday] night.
Greytown will be confident of getting their second win when they take on bottom-of-the-table Masterton Red Star in Greytown this Saturday, with Red Star yet to register a single competition point.
Things will not get any easier for Eketahuna, although they will have home advantage once again when they take on the high-flying Martinborough team.
The other round four matches have Carterton tackling Marist at Carterton, and East Coast will be searching for an upset when they host Gladstone.
