Premier
Marist 41 – Blues
Heading into the semi-final against Blues with some patchy recent form under their belt, Kelvin Hotel Marist were determined to put in a display that could help get them to the Galbraith Shield final. Playing at Rugby Park on a nice winters day the stage was set for a memorable semi-final showdown.
The game was played at a high tempo as was expected and after some back and forth from both teams Marist got the scoring underway with a penalty to take a three-nil lead. After a good build up Marist were rewarded when Shaun Stodart crashed over to take the green and blacks out to a 10-nil lead. That lead was further extended when number eight Pasilio Tosi swooped on a loose ball and sprinted 40 metres to score under the posts. The lead was almost extended further just before halftime; however Flynn Thomas was judged to have picked the ball up from a ruck in an offside position.
Up 17-nil at the break and turning into a slight breeze Marist knew Blues would come back hard and that they did. Blues asked many questions of the Marist defensive line, but the green and black wall held firm not letting the young Blues team into the game.
Another three points took the score to 20-nil before tries to Pasilio Tosi and Curtis Tarrant quickly put the result to bed at 34 nil. To cap off a great team performance winger Keanu Kahukura latched onto a Blues pass and scored in the corner, and with the conversion the final score stood at Marist 41 Blues 0. For Marist it was arguably one of their best performances this year, particularly on defence. Man of the match for Marist was barnstorming number eight Pasilio Tosi who again showed what he is capable of with some impressive ball carrying up the middle of the field.
Marist player Jeremy Boyle was presented with his blazer for 30 Premier games as well. He is a valued member of the team on and off the field and has added a great deal to the team at both halfback and first five over the past few seasons.
The green and blacks now look forward to taking on Pirates Old-Boys in next week’s Galbraith Shield final. Marist are under no illusions they will need to go up another level against a team who are growing in confidence every week and are developing a strong team spirit, which was highlighted in their 18-13 win over Woodlands in the second semi-final.
It would be great to have an awesome turn out next weekend to help cheer on the team and help create some history!
Woodlands 13 – Pirates Old Boys 18
Division One
Wyndham 26 – Te Anau 19
Midlands 25 – Edendale 19
Mossburn 17 – Waikaka 28
Division 2A
Blues B’s 39 – Wakatipu 12
Week 15 saw the last game of the round in the Div 2 competition and Chemdry Southland Blues Bs were going head to head with a Wakatipu side that had claimed 3 wins on the trot including the scalp of an inform Star side. The game kicked off at the earlier time of 12pm to cater for support of Premier finals footy. The game got off to a fast start and Blues scored out wide to winger John Ngatai after some swift hands from Richard Little. Waka then went on attack however a misplaced boot to the head area of a Blues player forced the referee to issue a red card. Wakatipu now down to 14 men were in for a hard day at the office, however it was the Wakatipu boys who scored next to go up 7-5. For the next 20 minutes, Blues held onto the ball although simple handling mistakes let them down at crucial times. Blues scored twice before the break through halfback Shea Read after a dominant scrum from the Blues pack from 5 meters out and then through Fili Hufanga with a short canter from 15 meters. Halftime 15-5. The second half saw Blues run the ball well which lead to tries to Tahi Hura, Sam Muir and a second try to Fili Hufanga and Shea Read. Wakatipu were impressive when they got their hands on the ball and scored out wide after a well worked play. Unfortunately for Wakatipu, playing with 14 men eventually took its toll and Blues managed to capitalize. The referee called time at 80 minutes after allowing both teams to play free flowing running rugby and controlled the game well. Full time 39-12. It is now finals footy time and Blues and Wakatipu will lock horns again at the home of Blues Rugby this Saturday. With it all on the line for this knock out clash, all past results count for nothing and we should see an intense encounter between the 2 sides.
Pioneer 24 – Star B’s 27
Saturday saw the completion of round robin play. We had a semi-final spot locked in before the game on Saturday, but just which position would have to be decided through 80 minutes of footy.
Star travelled up to play us with them desperate to grab valuable competition points to assure themselves their spot in the semis. The game started as a fast pace. Daniel Bastiaansen was able to make a break through a few defenders only for his inside ball to be dropped not far from the line. Shortly after, the pass did stick and through some quick hands from the back Jhardyn ‘Smiles’ Stewart was able to finish it off in the corner. The fast pace of the game was starting to slow down but that didn’t stop our forwards showing off their ball skills and it was James Dennis who finished off a stellar phase of play. For the rest of the half, Star came back firing. They scored a penalty and two tries to go into the break 17-10 up.
The second stanza started the way the first ended with Star getting the scoring underway with another try and penalty. They were 27-10 up with a fair chunk of time left on the clock. What has been a common sight throughout the year is that the players don’t drop their heads and keep fighting until the final whistle. Jordan Cudd-Anderson was rewarded for his hard running all day when he got the ball with 30 meters to run and stepped inside the fullback to dot down to reduce the deficit. With time running out, and with the constant pressure we were applying, we managed to sneak a try in at the very death. Kirby Johnston hit the ball with some pace and barged his way over to ultimately give us 2 bonus points, 1 for the 4 tries and 1 for losing within 7. Although we lost the game, gaining the 2 bonus points was critical in the terms of hosting a home semi-final.
We are now in to the serious end of the season and it gives us a rematch next week. Pioneer vs Star next Saturday at 3pm at home. The B’s are also home and play at 1.30pm.
Albion Excelsior 72 – Waikiwi 7
Division 2B
Pirates 19 – Marist B’s 47
Riverton 19 – Woodlands 15
Tokanui 24 – DLS 14
Division 3
Balfour/Lumsden 17 – Bluff 53
Bluff travelled to Balfour on a fine day with a cool wind and started strongly scoring after only 1 minute, Balfour/Lumsden took the lead after 12 minutes with a converted try to man of the match Stew Gilkison. Bluff scored twice more in the 22nd and 31st minute then Balfour/Lumsden had the last say in a very even first half with a try to Matt Muir making the half time score 12-19. Bluff was stung by what was said at halftime and with some positional changes raced in 4 tries in the first twenty minutes of the second half before Balfour/Lumsden replied with a good try to Nick Manston but Bluff finished strongly with 3 more tries making the final score 17-53. Joe Moir Bevan Roy and Matt Muir had strong games for Balfour/Lumsden on their sponsors day and Stew Gilkison and Matt Muir were presented with their 100 game ties at the after match. Special mention must be made of the excellent game control by referee Grant Dermody
Collegiate 42 – Central Pirates 5
Collegiate headed out to Wrights bush in a battle of the bottom of the table looking to avoid the wooden spoon, as well as salvage some pride and end the season on a high note. Conditions were perfect and both teams were hungry for the win. The first 5 minutes were all collegiate, racing out to a 10-0 lead. Bush pirates then came back strong with an unconverted try to bring it 10-5 after 10 minutes. The next 30 minutes were spent with the bush pirates hard on attack and throwing everything at collegiate who were defending their territory with passion and aggression that hasn’t been shown too much this season. Every ounce of grit and passion was needed, as collegiate were doing their best to get themselves penalised out of the game. This eventually took its toll on the referee’s patience and after one too many words of advice, a yellow card was issued to the Collegiate captain. Instead of bowing their heads, this seemed to spark something and in the following 10 minutes, despite being down to 14 men, Collegiate managed 2 tries. Back to 15 men and Collegiate refused to take the foot off the pedal and run out the game scoring at good rate to end 42-5. Bush pirates were a lot better than the score suggests and should be proud of their efforts
Mataura WBD – Ohai Nightcaps LBD
Otautau – BYE
Source: Rugby Southland