Ories And Upper Hutt Do It Comfortable As Weepu And Masoe Turn Out In Hardham Cup

Comfortable wins for Oriental-Rongotai and Upper Hutt and the attraction of Tri Nations All Blacks Chris Masoe and Piri Weepu were the defining aspects of the fourth round of Hardham Cup play.

Ories and Upper Hutt both enjoyed half-century wins over Poneke and Marist St. Pat's opposition respectively, while Maose and Weepu both inspired Wainuiomata and Johnsonville to victories over Northern United and Avalon in the round's second two fixtures.

In trying conditions across the region, Ories beat Poneke 50-0 at the Polo Ground, while Upper Hutt defeated MSP 60-5 at Evans Bay Park. At William Jones Park, Wainuiomata held off Avalon 23-13 and Johnsonville overcame Norths 35-17 at Porirua Park.

These results see Ories remain as the only unbeaten team after four weeks of the Hardham Cup, Ories booking the first playoff spot up for grabs in the process. On 19 points, Ories have shot out to be eight points clear at the top of the table, ahead of second placed Avalon on 11, despite them going down to Wainui. Just three points separate Avalon, Upper Hutt, Johnsonville and Wainui with the four teams chasing the remaining three playoff spots throughout July.

For the second week in a row Ories had the services of Ma'a Nonu, the Miramar Miracle combining again with his brother Samson in midfield and scoring a try in the eight tries to nil romp. Also getting on the scoreboard were left wing Paulo Aukuso (2), halfback Johnny Sola, No. 8 Mark Reddish, lock Henry Ma'alo, hooker Motu Matu'u and fullback Fa'avae Tuma'ai. Flying fullback Tuma'ai continues his try scoring exploits, now with eight in his last 10 games and 10 for the season.

Upper Hutt were made to work hard early on against MSP, the home side holding them to 0-0 for much of the first half. But the men in maroon soon hit their straps to stride out to a 36-0 lead in no time, eventually going two better than Ories to cross the tryline ten times in all, including two each to flankers Blair Cowan and Matthew Luamanu.

Weepu was the difference in the big Premier clash of the round between Wainui and Avalon, scoring 18 of his side's 23 points, including a try, three penalties and two conversions, and all Wainui's first 13 points. With Weepu at the helm Wainui sauntered to a 20-0 halftime lead and held off the Ava-lanche into the wind in the second spell.

Johnsonville didn't have proceedings all their own way against Norths, a penalty try the difference in their early 10-7 lead, before quick thinking by veteran first five-eighth Corey Burt led to Johnsonville's second try. Accustomed to the deceptive angles of Helston Park where bank meets field near the sideline, Burt caught Norths napping when he took a quick tap penalty and surged to the tryline himself.

From there Norths didn't go down quietly, keeping in close range of Johnsonville, before the visitors pulled clear at the end, with Masoe also getting on the scoreboard with a five-pointer.

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