Bonus point wins put Ories and Norths on top of Jubilee Cup

Bonus point wins have sent?Oriental-Rongotai and Northern United to the top of a tight Jubilee Cup after the third round set of matches on Saturday.

Ories and Norths each grabbed their second wins of the Jubilee Cup, Ories running in seven tries in beating Tawa 52-7 at Lyndhurst Park to lead the field by a solitary point and Norths scoring four tries in overcoming Upper Hutt 38-18 at Maidstone Park to lie second on points differential.

But the hunt for semi-final positions remains wide open, with the leading pair joined on two wins from three games by both Petone and Poneke who earned third round victories over respective neigbourly rivals Hutt Old Boys Marist and Marist St. Pat's.

At Kilbirnie Park, Poneke beat MSP 22-13 and at the Petone Recreation Ground, the home side beat HOBM 21-9.

With a month remaining until the 2009 Jubilee Cup playoffs only pointless Tawa are out of sight of the top four, with MSP, Upper Hutt and HOBM each just a win away from the lead.

Tawa were rocked last week when they were stripped of their points for fielding an ineligible player in their celebrated 24-15 upset win over Norths in the first round.??

They were also rocked on the field against Ories on Saturday, and in particular by centre Paulo Aukuso who scored four tries including two of his side's?four late converted tries that blew the score out. Ories' late scoring spree extended their lead from 24-7 midway through the second half to the final score of 52-7.

Aukuso started and finished this late try-fest, left wing Johnny Sola and lock Dan Reddish also finding the tryline and first five-eighth James Proctor kicking all four of these conversions en route to surpassing the milestone of 200 points for the season during the match.

Earlier, Ories moved out to a 14-0 lead through converted tries to right wing Robert Miller and Aukuso, before Tawa hit back with their only score of the game to long-serving prop Juice Finau.

From there Ories added a dropped goal and Aukuso scored his second try after charging down a kick from Tawa and Hurricanes fullback David Smith near halfway, before pulling away in the final quarter.

For the first time in at least 12 seasons Poneke have beaten MSP in both their Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup round robin games in the same year, backing up their 18-8 win over them in the first round with a well-earned 22-13 win this time. .

In a game where points scoring was at a premium, Poneke were hungrier than MSP and displayed more urgency throughout. Poneke won on the back of two first half converted tries, the first a penalty try after first five-eighth Sam Rasch was taken out without the ball and the second to halfback Brad Faulkner who pounced on a MSP error in-goal. Veteran first five-eighth and former MSP pivot Rasch converted both these tries for Poneke and also added a dropped goal to extend the home side's lead to 17-6.

Big striding centre Charlie Ngatai scored the match winner for Poneke, ahead of MSP right wing Mark Le crossing for a consolation try near the end.

Petone's second win of the Jubilee Cup round and 12^th of the year against their riverside neighbours HOBM was a hard fought affair. Following on from their much-hyped but underwhelming McBain Shield 15-0 victory over the Eagles earlier in the season, Petone only pulled clear right at the end when flanker Shaun Mahoney scored their second try and first five-eighth Dan Kirkpatrick converted.

Mahoney's try also denied the Eagles a valuable bonus point after trailing Petone by 14-9 courtesy of fullback James Kusel's third penalty of the match for them.

Kirkpatrick and Kusel had earlier exchanged penalties and Petone had led 9-6 at halftime, ahead of right wing Fautua Otto scoring for the Villagers almost immediately after halftime. But a series of errors and some errant option taking kept the home side scoreless throughout most of the second half.

Both Poneke and Petone passed the mark of 400 points for the season, joining Ories who reached that mark last week against Upper Hutt and Norths who scored exactly 500 points in the 11-week Swindale Shield round.

At Maidstone Park, Norths' 38-18 win over home side Upper Hutt was built upon a first half goal kicking exhibition from fullback James So'oialo and a try scoring burst of ?four tries in a 15 minute period of play either side of halftime.

In a quick run of try scoring, first five-eighth Tomasi Palu and Alipati Leuia each scored tries immediately before halftime and blindside flanker Tui Meavao and halfback Leon Ellison scored on 45 and 50 minutes as the Norths juggernaut extended their lead from 12-6 to 38-11 in no time.

But for the other 65 minutes of the match it was a much more evenly contested contest and in particular throughout the remainder of the second half. A spirited Upper Hutt came back strongly and made much of the play over the final 30 minutes, scoring another converted try and were unlucky not to score more tries.

On a still, pleasant afternoon, it had previously been the shrill sound of visiting Otago referee Barnett's whistle that had dominated the first half, the southern pea-blower providing the opportunity for a goal kicking duel between Norths fullback So'oialo and his opposite Jason Woodwood.

So'oialo won the battle of the boot with a convincing four consecutive penalties, while Woodwood slotted 2 from 4 to see Norths lead 12-6 after 35 minutes.

Despite this, both sides had gone close to finding the tryline. But in typical Norths fashion the Porirua marauders broke open the game with a turnover 60 metres out and a storming counter attack involving several sets of hands. Full of running left wing Siaosi Anamani was dragged down just short of the line but Tomasi Palu was on the shoulder of centre Alipati Leuia at the next phase to score the try.

Their second try moments later was a gem, the blistering Leuia breaking the line from a standing start and sprinting 25 metres for his 19^th try of 2009, all created from an attacking scrum and a switch of play. From the centre field set-piece, Norths ran the shortside, before ripping a pass across the face of the forwards to Leuia and he did the rest.

So'oialo converted both these tries for a first half haul of 16 points and to move past 150 points for the season. Norths led 26-6 at the interval.

There was excitement ?for the home side just after the break when promising playmaker Woodwood scooped up a loose ball in midfield and out sprinted the chasers for a 70-metre runaway try, closing the deficit to 26-11.

But it was quickly negated when Norths blindside flanker Tui Meavao scored from a lineout drive for his team's third try, following a penalty into the corner. So'oialo missed his first kick of the day and Norths now led 31-11.

Halfback Ellison then threaded his way to the tryline following a similar lineout penalty and a series of raids near the posts. So'oialo duely converted for a 38-11 advantage.

Upper Hutt then enjoyed their best period of the match, their big forwards and enterprising outside backs combining for some exciting rugby and hard working No. 8 Matt Luamanu stretching out to score their second try off a concerted build-up and a scything break by replacement first five Nua Fono-Hunt. Luamanu's try was his 10^th of the season, the most by a forward. Woodwood added the extras and Upper Hutt had their tails up again.

Livewire left wing Ofa Pongi should have scored again for Upper Hutt when he ran on to a short pass by Woodwood in broken play and through to the tryline, but it was ruled too short and brought back for a forward pass.

Hooker Joe Ritchie led a series of determined drives at the Norths' tryline, but they were unable to break through in the face of determined close quarter defence and the momentum was lost.

Hardham Cup

Old Boys-University continue to make up for their poor performing Swindale Shield season promotion dreams of Johnsonville edge closer to reality after both sides won their third straight Hardham Cup matches on Saturday.

OBU continue to set the pace, beating the inconsistent Wests Roosters 20-5 at Ian Galloway Park, following a win and a loss against Johnsonville and Wainuiomata. For a long time this match hung in the balance and remained scoreless throughout the majority of the fist half. The Roosters struck first with a try prop Sooti Faamausili.

But the students got their noses in front with two tries, including one to halfback Sam Hall who also kicked 10 points for a personal haul of 15 points.

Last week Johnsonville used their get out of jail card by sneaking past Poneke B at the death, but this time around they were more assured in defeating Rimutaka 26-12 at home at Helston Park.

In another tight contest, Rimutaka held the early lead through a penalty, but Johnsonville pulled ahead late in the first half and in the second half and both wingers Nathan Collins and Ryan Selkirk and their fullback Azim Beganovich each scored tries.

At William Jones Park, home team Wainuiomata? got their fledgling season back on track by beating Avalon 26-3.? Wainuiomata edged ahead on penalties to left wing Jason Love initially, before eventually scoring four tries and grabbing a bonus point win.

MSP B's season contines to fly high after they comfortably overcame Poneke B 32-13 in their battle of the second fifteens at Evans Bay Park. MSP outscored Poneke five tries to two, including a double to halfback Anthony Bradshaw, registering a bonus point to see them lie third behind OBU and Johnsonville.

Other Grades

Petone have shot to the top of the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup with a 24-5 win over Hutt Old Boys Marist, for their third straight win. Petone lead a group of four teams who have all won two from three matches so far.

These include Ories and Tawa, after Tawa defeated second placed Ories 42-26 in a high scoring match, and Stokes Valley who were held to a 22-22 draw by Norths. The tied result for Norths is their second draw in their last three games.

Wainuiomata and Paremata-Plimmerton are the two unbeaten sides after three rounds of the Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Trophy,? Wainuiomata ahead of Pare-Plim on the standings by a point after their bonus point 45-12 round three win over Avalon. Pare-Plim overcame Johnsonville 27-15.

OBU, Poneke and the Wellington Axemen all had wins, their second victories in three games in the third round.

Northern United beat rivals Johnsonville 27-15 in the second round women's premier division Victoria Tavern Trophy, but Norths are also joined at the top of the log on 13 points by Eketahuna who scored a bonus point in beating OBU 31-0.

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