Poneke end MSP?s unbeaten run with stunning come-from-behind victory

Poneke grabbed one of the more sensational Wellington club rugby victories at Kilbirnie Park on Saturday, coming from behind late in the match to pip neighbours Marist St. Pat's 23-21.

In a dramatic finish to their third round Jubilee Cup clash, Poneke came back from a 6-21 deficit after 75 minutes with two converted tries and a penalty at the death to complete a stunning turnaround.

Unable to penetrate MSP's tenacious defence close to the forwards, all seemed lost when left wing Ambrose Plaister dropped a pass out wide with the line wide open to see a long period of sustained pressure come to nothing.

But the big winger was part of a breathtaking five minutes that followed. With MSP lock Nick Passi having just been sent to the sinbin for killing play in his 22, Poneke regained possession and halfback Brad Faulkner crossed near the touchline for a seven-pointer to close the gap to 13-21.

Led by their standout player and lock Daniel Ramsay, Poneke broke free from the re-start and stormed back into MSP's territory.

Ramsay almost scored after a galloping run up the clubrooms touchline, but kept the ball alive long enough in the tackle to feed a pass to openside flanker Masefau Leuluniu to keep the movement alive. Poneke recycled and hooker Dane Coles scored a second try to the left of the uprights. First five-eighth JeremyTe Huia's second conversion closed the gap to 20-21.

With barely a minute remaining, MSP first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili's long re-start beat everyone into touch and Poneke had to start again with a lineout inside their 22. Coles found his man Ramsay with his throw and the red and black pack rumbled towards their own 40-metre line. Ramsay charged up towards the right hand corner once more but was bundled into touch amidst collective groans from Poneke's supporters on the near side and relief from MSP's ringing the far touchline.

But referee Hamish Mexted had blown his whistle for an offside penalty closer to the posts. Te Huia calmly stepped up to kick the winning three points to end a Kilbirnie Park thriller, amid jubilation for the home team and shock for MSP who had played so well right up until the end.

Poneke's win and the three other Jubilee Cup results that saw wins for Northern United, Hutt Old Boys Marist and Oriental-Rongotai has seen the points table close up considerably after three rounds, with the leading five teams each on two wins and separated by just three points.

At the Petone Recreation Ground, Norths inflicted defeat on Petone with a five-try first half scoring blitz to win 34-20. At the Polo Ground, Ories pulled clear of Old Boys-University in the second half to win 30-9. At Maidstone Park, HOBM held on to beat Upper Hutt 32-26.

In third round Hardham Cup action, the Wests Roosters continued to impress in their dominant 53-15 victory over Marist St. Pat's B at Ian Galloway Park, while Wainuiomata also struck form in their 46-13 win over HOBM B at William Jones Park. At Fraser Park, Tawa made Avalon's journey back up to Swindale Shield level tougher still with a come-from-behind 29-22 victory. At Helston Park, Johnsonville's campaign met a setback after their 18-24 loss to Norths B.

Jubilee Cup favourites Northern United were quick to bounce back from their loss to Poneke last week, running in two tries in the opening five minutes with the wind at their backs to race to a 12-0 lead. Prolific try scoring fullback Buxton Popoalii set the scoring in action inside the opening minute of the match by making a break and providing a try for lock Mana Faraimo. First five-eighth James So'oialo flicked an inside pass to centre Leon Ellison for the second try and Norths were looking ominous.

Norths scored three more tries in the first half, including a brace to left winger AJ Va'aleepu and a try to hooker Aiden Cains on halftime. Petone replied with a try to halfback Jared Kahu and Norths led 34-8 at the break.

Petone's well-drilled pack climbed back into the contest and lock Bradley Shields crossed for them again to close the gap to 34-13. Replacement Api Sione scored their third try with 15 minutes to go to make it 34-20, but Norths held on to the end to bank another bonus point victory and leave Petone with one win from three games in the second round.

While Norths played all their rugby at the start of the match, Ories' second win of the round against Old Boys-University was achieved with a burst of scoring midway through the second half.

With Ories first five-eighth James Proctor and his opposite Lima Sopoaga having traded penalties, scores were locked up at 9-9 deep into the match.

But the home side broke the deadlock on the 60 minute mark when lock Dan Reddish scored from a lineout to give them a 14-9 advantage. They then ran in two further tries to take the match comfortably in the end and retain the Bill Brien Challenge Cup. One of their try scorers was replacement outside back Julian Savea, making his first appearance since winning the IRB Junior Player of the Year title as part of New Zealand's World Cup winning U20 side.

At Maidstone Park, home side Upper Hutt were desperate for victory and had the services of Vodafone Wellington Lions and Blues halfback Alby Mathewson and Savea's New Zealand U20 teamamte Jason Woodward at first five-eighth. But their impact was largely negated by a dominant HOBM forward pack who helped pave the way for a 24-6 halftime advantage.

HOBM scored their first three tries, to winger Lance Ogo, fullback Mike Kingsbeer and lock Jeremy thrush, to leap out to a 17-3 lead late in the first half. They then added another , to centre Taiso Silafai, to have their bonus point in the bag by the turnaround.

Upper Hutt came back to 13-27 early in the second half when they scored a length of the field try after turnover near their line and then another to make it 21-27. This was followed by an unconverted try to the home side to close to within a point of the Eagles. But HOBM first five-eighth Dan Snee atoned for an earlier indiscretion that landed him 10 minutes in the sinbin by scoring out wide to make the game safe.

In the Poneke - MSP match at Kilbirnie Park, the extraordinary turn of events that saw the home side grab a remarkable victory followed a scoreless first 35 minutes of the second half in which MSP had seemingly done enough to hold off Poneke's comeback attempts.

In an absorbing second half MSP defended superbly, particularly around the fringes, to protect their 21-6 lead that they had established late in the first spell after scoring two lightning tries themselves.

In the lead-up to Poneke's comeback being set in motion, MSP had held out a concerted dam of pressure near their line. Their organised and effective defence from the likes of openside flanker Valentine Meachen, No. 8 Wim Baars, gutsy halfback Peter Sciascia and pocket-rocket second five-eighth Joe Wright repeatedly denied Poneke.

This in turn had followed a frantic period of exciting end-to end-play in which the ball was in play for 3-4 minutes and only ended with Poneke halfback Brad Faulkner being denied a try right on the line in a desperate covering tackle.

Earlier, scores had been locked up at 6-6 after half an hour with Poneke making much of the early play and MSP struggling to break into the attacking zone with the moderate wind at their backs. When they did first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili nailed two penalties, in reply to his opposite Te Huia also kicking two penalties.

MSP then broke the game open by scoring the first of their two tries, a gem from an attacking scrum 40 metres out. From the centre field set-piece, halfback Sciascia ripped a pass out to centre Chris Slade who made a scorching break up field and found fullback Apoua Stewart in support. Fittingly in his 100th Premier game, Stewart scored the try out wide and MSP led 11-6.

Lock Charlie Graham won the re-start, openside Meachen surged forward and Fili found space at the back with a pinpoint stab kick. MSP won the ball back from the resulting ruck and Scisscia quickly shovelled the ball on to Fili who in turn popped a pass to Slade on his shoulder who burst through from close range to score their second try. Fili's conversion now made it 18-6.

Poneke very nearly hit back immediately with Coles and Ramsay combining off a lineout, but MSP snuffed the movement out and banged the ball up field and out of trouble. Instead, MSP finished the first half strongly when they carried play forward from another attacking scrum and were soon awarded a penalty. Fili stepped up and extended the lead to 15 points at halftime.

Coles and Ramsay hooked up to again almost score a try for Poneke immediately after the break, but Coles' pass to Ramsay was called back for being forward, the first of several frustrating errors - plus the loss of openside Masefau Leuniniu to the sinbin for a crucial 10 minutes - that kept the scoreboard on ice.

But it all came together at the end and MSP were left lamenting the match that got away.

Hardham Cup

Avalon's Premier re-introduction chances took a big bit when they were unable to protect their 15-point lead against Tawa and were overtaken late in the second half.

Avalon appeared to be heading for an all-important first victory of the second round when they led 22-7 at halftime. Veteran centre Finau Hopoi scored early to help put Avalon out to an 8-0 lead in as many minutes, followed by tries to openside flanker Sione Tauailato and fullback Thomas Kiwara.

Tawa fullback Junior Togia added to teammate No. 8 Iona Fuatai's earlier try by slicing through for a five-pointer early in the second half to close the gap to 12-22. Props Juice Finau and David Fa'atafa each crossed as Tawa took a 24-22 lead, before sealing a win with another converted try and holding on.

Tawa's victory propels them firmly inside the playoff zone, just back from Hardham Cup pacesetters the Wests Roosters and Wainuiomata who each took maximum points from their clashes with ‘B' teams.

The Roosters were far too slick for MSP B at home at Ian Galloway Park, scoring four tries with the wind at their backs in the first half and leaping to a 31-8 lead at halftime.

There was no easing off the pedal after the turnaround , adding another four tries to reach the half century of points. Of note, all eight of their tries were run in by eight different try scorers. Fullback Chris Brown scored 18 points.

Over the hill in Wainuiomata, the home side pulled clear from a spirited HOBM B who held them to just a 15-10 lead late in the first half, with halfback Josh Raulini scoring an excellent 50-metre individual try.

But Wainuiomata speedster Jason Love crossed for a seven-pointer just before halftime which extended his side's buffer to 22-10, followed by further tries early in the second spell to openside Greg Lealofi and second five-eighth Isaiah Mamea to put the match out of reach for HOBM. All up, Wainuiomata scored seven tries including a double to Love.

Johnsonville's campaign suffered a significant blow when they became the latest victim of the first round Harper Lock Shield champion Norths B outfit.

In an evenly fought game throughout, Norths opened the scoring through a converted to right winger Eli To'omaga, which was replied to by Johnsonville centre Nathan Collins.

Norths then scored a runaway try to extend their lead to 14-7 and then scored again right after halftime to extend their advantage. There was an exchange of penalties before Johnsonville hooker Manu Paongo crossed. But like their Premier side against Petone, Norths held on to fulltime and took the win that lifted them ahead of Johnsonville into fourth place.

Meanwhile in Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup third round action, Poneke scored a late try in the corner to clinch a hard fought 22-19 victory over Paramata-Plimmerton in their top of the table clash at Kilbirnie Park.

Poneke are now the only unbeaten team in this grade after three weeks, with a group of five sides back on two wins. The other two teams that won their first two games Stokes Valley and Ories both lost their matches on Saturday - Stokes Valley going down 11-17 to Rimutaka and Ories 18-19 to OBU.

Marist St. Pat's defeated Hutt Old Boys Marist 32-20 in their top-of-the-table third round Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial clash at the Hutt Rec. MSP are joined by Upper Hutt and Wellington unbeaten at the top of the table after three weeks after Upper Hutt beat Wainuiomata 23-15 and Wellington defeated Petone 11-6.

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