Poneke Remain Unbeaten After Close Fifth Round

Frontrunners Poneke battled to a 12-3 victory over the Wests Roosters to remain unbeaten at the top of the Swindale Shield after five rounds. The arrival of rain and cold southerlies failed to prevent Poneke from holding off a determined Wests challenge at home at Kilbirnie Park.

Poneke scored two first half tries through fullback Tevita Latu and lock Taoho Patuawa and held on after halftime with Wests pecking at their heels throughout. For Wests, this was their second narrow loss in as many weeks after falling 9-3 to Marist St. Pats in round four.

Poneke's narrow win reflected a closely fought set of fifth round matches, with two encounters going down to the wire and others hanging in the balance for long periods.

At Maidstone Park, Upper Hutt overtook Wainuiomata with a last-gasp try to win 19-17 and register their first win of the season. Halfback Daniel Beckett proving the hero in the shadows of fulltime, charging down a clearing kick and scooting over in the corner for the match winning try.

Old-Boys University and Hutt Old Boys Marist fought out a 15-15 draw at the Basin Reserve, with HOBM coming from 10-15 behind to draw the contest with a length-of-the-field try. OBU then had a chance on fulltime to recapture victory, but a penalty attempt was unsuccessful.

At the Polo Ground, Avalon first five-eighth Stephen Cross kicked two second half penalties to spoil Oriental-Rongotai's Old Timers Day and earn his side a hard fought 11-5 victory. The game was previously locked up at 5-5 after Ories first five-eighth Fa'avae Tuma'ai and Avalon right wing Lemafa Tuluauau had both crossed for unconverted tries.

It was just as close at Evans Bay Park, where Petone pulled away clear from a 6-5 halftime lead to eventually prevail 22-8 over MSP - largely through the boot of first five-eighth Sam Rasch who kicked five penalties and a conversion.

The exception to the rule of close games was Northern United's easy 34-8 win over Tawa at Lyndhurst Park. Norths sauntered into second on the points table with the only four-try bonus point win of the round, left wing Daley Harper scooping a double for his fifth and sixth tries of the season.

It was a hugely relieved Upper Hutt who registered their first win of the season on their Old Timers Day against Wainuiomata in this week's feature match.

In a repeat of last year's Hardham Cup final, Upper Hutt made hard work of defeating the competition newcomers, needing Beckett's last-gasp charge-down try to seal what should have been a comfortable win.

Early in the game Upper Hutt failed to capitalise on a wealth of territory and possession, letting themselves down with a spate of handling errors, missed opportunities and wrong option taking. In contrast, Wainuiomata turned what was practically their only two first half opportunities into points, finishing off a breakout try and kicking a penalty on halftime.

Though Upper Hutt assumed the ascendancy from the start, taking ownership of Wainui's 22 during the opening 30 minutes of play, they were unable to crack the line. Instead it was Wainui who scored first, halfback Cory Draper and No. 8 Sape Misa breaking out against the run of play and setting up an opportunist try for left wing Te Aonui Ririnui.

Finally Upper Hutt were able to string together a continuous passage of play, putting hooker James Wilson through under the bar for a converted try and a 7-5 lead. This was followed by a penalty to Wainui lock Jarred Beyer on halftime, and they changed ends leading by a point.

Beyer extended their lead to 11-7 with his second penalty soon after the break, before he was sin-binned to present Upper Hutt with the chance to retake their ascendancy. They did so briefly in scoring out wide through replacement right wing Mo Taito and moving ahead 14-11. But with Beyer still in the bin, Wainui first five-eighth Michael Lealava'a levelled the scores up to 14-14 to set up the pulsating final 10 minutes of play.

Beckett's match winning try was extra heartbreak for Wainui, who had seemingly kicked the winning penalty only moments earlier - lock Jared Beyer breaking the tense 14-14 deadlock, giving Wainui a 17-14 lead with just three minutes left on the scoreboard clock.

Meanwhile, Johnsonville's top two sides will be out to keep their unbeaten records intact this week in the Senior One Harper Lock Shield and Senior Two National Mutual Cup. Both play their sixth round matches at home at Helston Park. The Senior One team plays OBU, while the Senior Two team plays Petone in the early game.