Petone steamroll MSP to stay on top of Swindale Shield

Petone have firmed up as 2009 Swindale Shield favourites following their comprehensive?five tries to one 37-11 slaying of defending champions Marist St. Pat's on their Old Timers' Day at Evans Bay Park on Saturday.

Petone's sixth consecutive win this year sees them consolidate their position at the top of the Swindale Shield points table at the halfway mark and puts them on track for their 14th first round title and their first since 2004.

Over the next month the Villagers play Old Boys-University at home, Upper Hutt at home, Tawa away and Wainuiomata at home, before ending the round robin series with a possible title deciding last round match against Oriental-Rongotai.

As expected, in-form Ories coasted to a 75-0? bonus point victory over minnows Avalon on their Old Timers' Day at the Polo Ground, lifting them from fourth to second place on the ladder on points differential?and?four? points behind Petone.

Ories have snuck ahead of both Poneke, who failed to earn a bonus point over the Wests Roosters in their 13-8 win at Kilbirnie Park, and MSP who slip from second to sixth after their defeat to Petone.

Hutt Old Boys Marist (now fourth),? Norths (fifth) and Upper Hutt (seventh) were the other sixth round winners. HOBM defeated Old Boys-University 37-18 at the Basin Reserve, Norths accounted for Tawa 37-11 at Lyndhurst Park and Upper held on to beat Wainuiomata 30-26 at Maidstone Park.

Although Petone appear to be in the box seat for the title, the Swindale Shield is evenly poised at the halfway stage with five teams breathing down their neck and separated by just?four points.

Equally, the race to finish inside the top eight is only going to intensify in the coming weeks, with seemingly only winless OBU and Avalon now out of Jubilee Cup contention.

No one could have predicted the ease of Petone's victory over MSP, particularly away from home and on MSP's Old Timers' Day. They recaptured the Bill Elvy Cup on the back of another dominant forward performance and a hungry backline who scored all the tries. They scored? one try in the first half to lead 13-11 at the break and then added?four more unanswered tries in the second 40 minutes.

The hard working Petone forwards and the boot of Hurricanes first five-eighth Dan Kirkpatrick laid the platform before halftime and right wing Fautua Otto cashed in after the break with back-to-back tries. Otto flew in for his first to extend the lead to 18-11 and then capitalised on a horror MSP mistake under their goalposts for this second which gave Petone a match winning 25-11 advantage.

In scoring the clincher, Otto chased up a Kirkpatrick penalty attempt that sailed wide of the uprights, only for MSP's defenders to fail to catch the ball and a grateful Otto poured through to turn the missed penalty into a converted try.

Outside back Farrand Turner and converted centre Cam Incledon added the icing on the cake with two more tries for Petone, who have now triumphed in three tough games in succession against HOBM, Poneke and now MSP and are on fire.

Earlier, MSP left wing Brendan Watt had scored the game's first try, to which his opposite Jared Kahu had scored and Kirkpatrick had converted and added a penalty to give Petone a 10-5 advantage. Kirkpatrick and MSP first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili (2) had then traded penalties ahead of the explosive second half for Petone.

Over the road at Kilbirnie Park, Poneke became the latest team to experience the commitment and pluck of the Wests Roosters, forced to draw on all their defensive qyualities to give them the four competition points and the retention of the Cederwall Trophy.

Both sides scored one try apiece in the first half on Poneke's Old Timers' Day, second five-eighth Eito Tamura for Poneke after a scorching run up the sideline by winger Marika Kau, and fullback Liam Townsend for Wests after a quick tap penalty. However centre Charlie Ngatai's boot for Poneke was the difference, adding a conversion and a penalty to put his side ahead 10-5 at the turnaround.

Ngatai then kicked a boomer of a penalty to inch his side ahead to 13-5. But the Roosters responded with a penalty and a strong finish, hammering away inside Poneke's territory right to the end with both teams having players in the sin-bin at the end.

At another Eastern Suburbs venue, Ories celebrated their Old Timers' Day at the Polo Ground with an easy victory over Avalon. Second five-eighth Samson Nonu and lock Mark Reddish got proceedings rolling with converted tries soon after kick-off, ahead of the floodgates opening. By halftime Ories had accumulated a 56-0 lead, including a hat-trick to centre Paulo Aukuso, a brace to Nonu and a perfect eight from eight conversions to deadeye first five-eighth James Proctor.

Ories added four more tries in the second half before losing their impetus with the substitutions bench cleared and their structure gone.

Norths, featuring Hurricanes forwards Api Naikatini and Faifili Levave who both scored tries,? pulled clear of a spirited Tawa to register a five tries to two victory. Right wing Francis Seumanutafa (2) and former New Zealand? U19 hooker Nathan Fotuali'I also? crossing the tryline.?

HOBM broke open a tough early OBU challenge with a five tries to three victory to retain the Wood Cup. Halfback Nick Risdon's try from a chargedown gave the Eagles a 10-8 lead with halftime approaching, before cashing in for their bonus point victory in the second 40 minutes.

It was a close game as expected on Old Timers' Day out at Maidstone Park between ninth placed Upper Hutt and tenth placed Wainuiomata, both searching for their second wins and a chance to break free of the bottom of the pack. Both teams came into this match with one win apiece and similar defensive records, although Upper Hutt had averaged 27 points from their five games and Wainuiomata just 14 giving the home side the edge on paper.

Both were coming off tough losses the previous week, Wainuiomata losing to MSP and Upper Hutt defeated by Norths, but each also fielding teams laden with young talented players for the future. Wainuiomata had two New Zealand? U20 squad members in halfback Frae Wilson and last year's impressive Wellington representative age-grade lock Sharhn Eru, as well as other players to grab the attention such as openside flanker Greg Lealofi and the Mamea brothers, Tau and Isaiah, in the backs. For Upper Hutt, No. 8 and last year's New Zealand? U20 squad member Matt Luamanu is a strong runner, as are centre Brett Pigott who scored two tries and teenaged fullback Mitch Brown out of the Upper Hutt factory of fullbacks that in recent years has produced Cory Jane and latterly Greg Tweddle, who is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury.

The Upper Hutt team also featured Hurricanes tighthead prop Tim Fairbrother, who had an influential game marshalling his tight five and leading a dominant Upper Hutt scrum that proved one of the key areas of difference as the match developed.

In an entertaining, if rather erratic game of rugby, Upper Hutt ran out five tries to four winners after leading 13-12 at halftime, a win that they made harder on themselves than they perhaps should have after letting Wainuiomata back into the game when they seemed to have finally wrestled control off them.

Upper Hutt scored two consecutive tries early in the second half to push their advantage out to 25-12, but left the door ajar in allowing Wainuiomata to reply with a converted try with more than 15 minutes remaining.

But in a contest that ebbed and flowed for long periods and with both sides at times guilty of completely losing their structure and concentration, Upper Hutt finally pulled clear with ten minutes to go with a match winning try to Matt Luamanu off the back of their scrum to retain the Peter Jones/Dave Ritchie Cup.

Wainuiomata kept attacking until the end and scored their fourth try on fulltime to also close the margin of defeat to within seven points and come away with two competition points for their efforts.

In fine, cool conditions, the match got off to a cracker of a start with both teams scoring early tries to make it 5-5 after five minutes.

Some nicely worked phase play by Upper Hutt inside their visitors' 22 led to centre Pigott crashing through to score his first try. But Wainuiomata hit right back almost immediately from the kick-off when they won back possession, set up a ruck midfield and spun the ball left to right wing Isaiah Mamea who answered with the first of two tries (see photo with this story).

Upper Hutt quickly reclaimed the lead when Fairbrother surged forward into Wainuiomata's territory and Pigott sailed clean through some flimsy defence and scored his brace.

Piggott then kicked a penalty to add to his two tries to give Upper Hutt a 13-5 lead after 13 minutes.

Wainuiomata scored their second try midway through the half, running the ball and breaking out of their own territory from a rapidly back peddling scrum. From the next breakdown they won a full arm penalty that set up an attacking lineout, rumbled in field and then sent second five-eighth Tau Mamea over under the posts for a great team try. Halfback Wilson added the extras to see his side trail by just one point.

The rest of the first half was a disjointed affair, neither side able to hold on to the ball for long enough and the scoreboard remained idle.

Wainuiomata had two straightforward chances to take the lead after the break, but Wilson missed with consecutive penalties.

Upper Hutt made no mistake in punishing Wainuiomata for their ill-discipline with Fairbrother crashing over for his team's third try from an excellent rolling maul, all started from a penalty kick for touch and a lineout drive.

This put Upper Hutt ahead 18-13, and it was about to get worse for Wainuiomata when a defensive lapse at a ruck allowed Upper Hutt flanker Josh Hunt to scoop up the ball on the ground and sprint 25 metres for the easiest of tries under the bar. Pigott converted and Upper Hutt now led 25-12.

Wainuiomata were finally rewarded for their attacking endevour when Isaiah Mamea ran around the posts for his second try ?that was also converted to close the gap up once more at 23-19.

However, Upper Hutt's scrum put their Old Timers' Day celebrations back on track when No. 8 Luamanu crashed over from its base after lock Raymond Sio had been previously held up over the line. Pigott then kicked the important conversion 15 metres in from touch to put his side ahead by 11 points.

Again Wainuiomata scrambled hard over the final few minutes, and were finally rewarded for their efforts at the end when reserve hooker Wayne Aoimata scored their fourth try.

In other grades, it was another good day for the MSP Senior Firsts, sweeping to a 54-13 win over Petone at Evans Bay Park and progressing to a maximum 30 points at the halfway stage of the Harper Lock Shield. MSP have now extended their lead from eight to 10 points to their nearest challenger Poneke, who accounted for Stokes Valley 37-17 at Kilbirnie Park.

Johnsonville were significant winners in the Senior One grade, beating Norths 32-8 for the Barlow Trophy and moving from ninth to seventh and to within striking distance of the all-important top four.? Rimutaka, who are also striving hard for a top four finish and a chance to play in the Swindale Shield next year drew 22-22 with Ories in their second versus third clash at the Polo Ground. The tied result still leaves both teams in the top four behind runaway leaders MSP.

The tenth placed Wellington Axemen thrashed seventh placed Avalon 89-0 in their Old Timers' Day clash at Hataitai Park in the Senior Two National Mutual Cup. However their big bonus point win sees them remain near the bottom of the ladder on account of ninth placed OBU's upset 28-19 victory over previous second placed HOBM at Nairnville Park and eleventh placed Johnsonville's upset toppling of previous sixth placed Wainuiomata at Helston Park.

Elsewhere, previous Senior Two? frontrunners Tawa have slipped to third after suffering a 22-20 defeat to Norths at Lyndhurst Park, while MSP have grabbed a share of the lead with Norths after thrashing strugglers Paremata-Plimmerton 63-0 at Cobham Park.

As expected, Johnsonville beat Ories in the Premier Women's grade to move to the top of the standings ahead of Norths who had their bye. But Johnsonville failed to grab bonus point in their 38-29 win, which could potentially leave the door open for Norths to move ahead of them in the coming weeks.

Petone beat MSP 27-5 to move ahead of Ories from fifth to fourth.

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