Eagles hoping to spoil Norths party in top of the table clashes

Swindale Shield Premier | 27 May 2010 | Steven White

They won’t be celebrating for at least another week, but if Northern United’s top two teams both win their home matches this weekend then the Swindale Shield and the Harper Lock Shield should both be coming their way in a fortnight’s time.

In two top of the table round nine clashes at Porirua Park - both against Hutt Old Boys Marist Opposition - Norths will all but seal the Swindale Shield with the last two rounds to spare if they win the main game and will have one hand on the Harper Locker Shield with a fortnight to play if they win in the early encounter. ?

Still in contention in both grades themselves, the HOBM Eagles will be trying their hardest to prevent Norths victories, making Porirua Park the key venue in Wellington club rugby this weekend.?

In the Swindale Shield, Norths have a nine-point lead at top of table to joint second placed HOBM and Oriental-Rongotai and will carry a likely unassailable lead into the final fortnight if they win this match. However if HOBM beat them then the first round competition could yet go down to the wire - and also keep several other teams in contention for at least another week.?

If Norths win against HOBM and Ories also defeat Wainuiomata in their match at the Polo Ground then Ories would become Norths’ only remaining challenger and could then themselves keep the title race alive until round 11 when they play them next week.?

But given the form Norths has shown so far – having scored 165 points more and conceded 38 fewer than their closest rivals – most would agree that the best chance Ories ?- and others - have of winning the Swindale Shield is by HOBM toppling them this weekend at Porirua Park. If so it’s all on given that Norths then play Poneke at Kilbirnie in the final round.?

An Eagles win over Norths this weekend would not only propel the Hutt side into contention, it would also, mathematically at least, keep all of Ories, Poneke, MSP and Petone in the hunt for at least another week as all these other top six teams meet teams this weekend that they will be favoured to win against from the bottom half of the points table.

HOBM were convincing 46-5 winners over Ories in round eight, but a loss to Norths could see them fall to sixth. There are also no easy games left for them after this, having to face Poneke and then MSP in their annual Father Cleary Shield encounter.?

Against Norths, they face a team in rampant form with gamebreakers right across the park. From skipper and prop Anthony Perenise, playing in his 100th game for the Norths Premiers, to fullback and Billy Wallace Trophy Best and Fairest leader Buxton Popoalii, who has now equalled teammate Alapati Leuia’s first round try-scoring record of 16 set last year, Norths will be extremely hard to contain. Second placed HOBM have won six from eight, including their last four in a row against Old Boys-University, Tawa, Johnsonville and Ories. Head to head, Norths have beaten HOBM in each of their last four encounters, winning 27-12 and 23-17 in two matches last year. HOBM’s last win over Norths and last over them at Porirua Park was in the 2007 Jubilee Cup semi-final when they won 15-5.?

Another important Swindale Shield match this week sees Ories host Wainuiomata at the Polo Ground. While for Ories this is a must-win to keep their Swindale Shield hopes alive, for Wainuiomata they will likely reach the Jubilee Cup round with victory. Although not guaranteed yet, a win for Wainuiomata, with or without a bonus point, would push them out to at least six points clear of the cut-off zone and very bad luck would have to befall them to miss out from there.

Irrespective of their places on the table, this game should be tight with the previously hot running Ories crashing out to HOBM last week after putting away the Wests Roosters the week before and Wainuiomata convincing winners over the same Roosters side last week. With the help of Piri Weepu, Wainuiomata scored seven unanswered tries against Wests, but even without him looked top eight contenders. Wainuiomata have also generally had the better of clashes with Ories, winning five of seven since their first clash in many years in the Hardham Cup round in 2006. Ories won their one and only clash last year 26-8, but Wainuiomata won five of their previous six.

In two other expected close games this weekend, Marist St. Pat’s will be gunning for six in a row and a chance to keep their mathematical title hopes alive with a bonus point win at Evans Bay Park against Tawa, who like Wainuiomata, are likely just one win away from making the top eight and the Jubilee Cup. At the Basin Reserve, joint ninth placed Old Boys-University and Upper Hutt meet in a match where the winner could still hold out slim hopes for a an eighth placed finish and the loser will know their Hardham Cup fate.?

The other two round nine Swindale Shield clashes should see straightforward victories to Poneke and Petone over competition minnows Johnsonville and the Wests Roosters. Poneke plays Johnsonville at Kilbirnie Park and Petone hosts the Roosters at the Petone Recreation Ground.

Petone and Wests play for both the Bill Brien Challenge Cup and the Gareth Head Memorial Trophy. ?Gareth played his early rugby for Onslow before moving to Petone in 1966 and playing in well over 100 Senior games, many of these in the front row with Petone’s All Black great Ken Gray. He also played over 100 games for Wellington. When he finished playing he coached the Petone senior 3rds in 1978-79.

The Wests club was formed from an amalgamation of the Athletic, Onslow and Karori Clubs in 1982 and it was to Gareth Head they turned to have the honour of coaching their Premier side in its inaugural season. Two seasons later Gareth was back at Petone and teamed up with long-time teammate Andy Leslie, coaching the Petone Premier side as well as the Wellington Colts.

He helped establish the Ken Gray Academy at Petone and was an active member of the 1985 Centennial Committee. His sudden death at age 54 in January 1997 was a great loss.?

While, odds-on, Norths appear to have the Swindale Shield locked up this year, the race for the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield is a lot closer with five teams still in the hunt for first round spoils and a fast finishing Avalon coming up the points table to challenge the leading duo.

HOBM and Norths are locked up on 35 points, six clear of Avalon on 29, meaning the winner of their game will go into the final fortnight at least a bonus point win clear at the top and will be in the box seat to take the title.?

This week’s top of the table Harper Lock Shield battle between Norths and HOBM is a clash of the competition’s best attack versus its best defence. The HOBM side has scored 45 more points or over a try more per game than the next best attacking side in the competition so far (Norths), while Norths have conceded just 75 points and almost two tries per game fewer than their Eagles counterparts. Both have won seven from eight. Their clash gets underway on the top field at Poriria Park at 1.15pm.

Third placed Avalon will be favoured to win their meeting against ninth placed Petone at the Petone Recreational Ground at 1.15pm and keep the pressure on the top two, while MSP and Poneke (both on 26 points) can keep their mathematical title hopes alive if they win their round nine games.

Avalon and Petone will be playing for the Morgan Family Trophy, which in recent years has been contested at Premier level. This trophy was donated by cousins John and Trevor Morgan in 1987 who had family connections with both clubs in the 1970s and early 1980s.?

Marist St. Pat’s host eighth placed Tawa at Evans Bay Park at 1.15pm and Poneke play bottom placed Paremata-Plimmerton at Kilbirnie Park at 1.15pm. With Avalon, MSP and Poneke all favoured to prevail in their games not only is the race for the title spoils intensifying, but the scramble to finish inside the top four and make the Hardham Cup round could get interesting after this weekend.?

In other ninth round Senior 1 matches, Old Boys-University host Rimutaka at Nairnville Park at 1pm and Ories host Stokes Valley at the Polo Ground at 1.15pm.

Meanwhile Northern United is pressing hard for the triple whammy of titles across the top three grades, with their Senior 2 National Mutual Cup side also leading the pack.

Like their top two teams, the Norths third fifteen are involved in a top of the table, possible title deciding, clash in round nine, against second placed Avalon at Porirua 3 at 1.15pm.?

Norths (on 34) points will open up a lead of at least a bonus point win margin with two rounds to play if they can overcome Avalon (31). Third placed Poneke (26), fourth placed Upper Hutt (22) and at a pinch fifth placed Wainuiomata and the Wests Roosters (both 21) are the other sides who could feasibly come through and win this grade with three games remaining. At the top, Norths and Avalon both play Poneke in the last two weeks and at the least there’s still potential for a significant reshuffle amongst the minor placings.?

This week Poneke meets eleventh placed Paremata-Plimmerton at Kilbirnie Park at 1.15pm and fourth placed Upper Hutt play eighth placed OBU at Martin Luckie Park (3) at 1pm.?

In other round nine Senior 2 games, Wainuiomata plays sixth placed Wellington at Hataitai Park at 3pm, the Wests Roosters plays last placed Petone at the Petone Rec at 1.15pm and eighth placed MSP plays ninth placed Hutt Old Boys Marist at Martin Luckie Park (1) at 1.15pm.

The Norths theme continues in the eight-team Paris Memorial Trophy U21 Division 1 competition, where their Colts side (22 points) holds a three-point lead over second placed Petone (19) with two rounds to go.

If Norths can pick up any competition points at all against seventh placed Old Boys-University on Porirua Park (1) at 1.15pm and Petone can defeat Upper Hutt at Maidstone Park at 3pm then the final round match next week between Norths and Petone will be a virtual final.?

Third placed MSP (17 points) can still have designs on winning this grade if Norths and Petone both stumble this week. They play fifth placed Ories at the Polo Ground.?

In the other U21 Division 1 game this week, sixth placed HOBM meets Poneke who are searching for their first win.

HOBM will collect the James Gilbert Memorial U19 first round trophy this Saturday regardless of the outcome of their final round match against Paraparamu. HOBM (on 24 points) hold a one-point lead to Petone (23) but can’t be overtaken as Petone have the bye. Third placed OBU Green is on 16 points.?

The final week of the first round eight-team JC Bowl 85kg restricted grade holds much intrigue, with the Poneke Dogs of War and MSP Blues sides the two teams in contention locked on 24 points.?

Poneke plays fifth placed OBU Onslow Bunnies and MSP plays fourth placed Johnsonville. If Poneke and MSP finish equal on points after this last match then Poneke will take the grade by virtue of the whom beat whom rule and their fighting 12-5 win when they met. Third placed Wellington 1 (19 points) could yet get up to finish second ahead of MSP if they take maximum points out of their match against bottom placed OBU Onslow Spartans. Wellington battled past MSP 9-6 in their previous encounter, but lost 12-13 to Poneke so can’t overtake the Dogs.?

In the 85kg Division 2 grade it’s a straight first round final between leaders Eastbourne (18 points) and Wainuiomata (13). Wainuiomata will need a bonus point win to draw level with Eastbourne and then will take the first round honours by on the whom beat whom countback.

It’s a similar scenario in the fifth and final weekend of the first round six-team 85kg Division 3 grade, where the Poneke Cavs (19) and MSP Green (14) are playing each other to decide the first round honours. Poneke are in the box seat, with MSP needing a bonus point win to draw level and win.?

Just one match match got underway in the Women’s Premier second round Victoria Tavern Trophy last week, with Stokes Valley defeating Wainuiomata 50-22. Norths and Ektetahuna were the other week one victors, winning by default.

In games scheduled this week, Stokes Valley host Petone, Wainuiomata entertain Marist St Pat’s and Old Boys-University head over the hill to play Eketahuna. Norths have the bye to cheer on their men’s teams.?

Please note, avid fan, that much of the above may never take place on account of the ghoulish weather that has gripped Wellington this week. Please check relevant cancellations channels on Saturday morning for more.?