Norths, Upper Hutt and Ories bonus point winners in first round

Fans streamed away from Trentham Memorial Park drunk on rugby at the end of a thrilling 2011 season opening Gala Day that saw first round Premier Swindale Shield, Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and Senior 2 National Mutual Cup matches all played at the venue.

In the Swindale Shield, there were bonus point wins for two-time defending champions Northern United, Upper Hutt and Oriental-Rongotai and closer victories for Marist St. Pat's and Petone.

Northern United beat Hutt Old Boys Marist 34-17, Upper Hutt defeated Wainuiomata 40-12, Ories accounted for newly promoted Avalon 63-6, MSP edged out the Wests Roosters 19-10 and Petone held off Poneke 24-20.

In three noted results in the Harper Lock Sheld, MSP beat recently demoted Johnsonville 43-19, Ories defeated Stokes Valley 51-12 and Poneke overcame Petone 16-10.

In another close game between the long-established rivals, Poneke beat Petone 10-3 in their opening round National Mutual Cup clash, while in two more tight matches Upper Hutt pipped Wainuiomata 21-20 and Avalon defeated the Wellington Axemen 21-19.

For full results from the top three grades click on Games & Results across the top of this page

The Club Weekly was at ground zero watching four of the Swindale Shield games that were played: Upper Hutt v Wainuiomata, Petone v Poneke, Norths v HOBM and Old Boys-University v Tawa.

Upper Hutt v Wainuiomata

Upper Hutt got their season off to a bonus point winning start against defending Hardham Cup champions Wainuiomata and retained the Peter Jones-Dave Ritchie Cup.

Wainuiomata were their own worst enemies in this match, squandering dominance up front and pace to burn on the wings with directionless play and poor discipline.

It was the discipline aspect that eventually cost them and helped allow Upper Hutt to gain the upper hand late in the first half.

Lucky to be behind just 9-0 - after an earlier sweeping counterattack and apparent try in the corner that was sparked by halfback Kayne Hammington and carried on by fullback Jason Woodward had been disallowed for foul play previously in the movement - Wainuiomata conceded a converted intercept try on halftime.

With loosehead prop David Va'a just having been sent to the sin bin for an incident in mid-field, Upper Hutt second five-eighth Anthony Davidson swooped on a Wainuiomata pass and sprinted 60 metres to score the game's first try. Woodward's conversion now made it 16-0 and Upper Hutt were turning with a not insignificant breeze in their favour in the second half (later to die away during the 3.45pm game).

Proceedings turned from bad to worse for Wainuiomata early in the second spell when Upper Hutt used that breeze to plug the right hand corner and force a 5-metre scrum. From the set-piece, Upper Hutt's forwards muscled up and Va'a's counterpart prop Apa Heemi eventually scored to push the advantage out to 21-0.

Wainuiomata made several changes from the bench, including the injection of assistant coach and veteran Earl Va'a, and their accuracy improved. Eventually after 55 minutes they established a period of continuity and pressure and left winger Jason Love duly scored, closing the score to 21-5.

But Upper Hutt stole these points right back when their right winger Mitch Brown picked up a dropped ball and ran 25 metres to score in the corner. This try for Upper Hutt also had an element of good fortune in it, as an injured Wainuiomata halfback Corey Draper was on the ground being attended to in the spot where this happened and his replacement was being run on to the field.

Wainuiomata hit back again, again through Love, who was on hand to finish off a lovely run from broken play on their own side of halfway by flanker Genesis Mamea. This made it 26-12 and they were back in it.

But Upper Hutt had been tackling their hearts out all day, in particular their lock James Wall, No. 8 Campbell Beckett and hooker Anaru Rangi, and they dug deep to protect their lead.

Now desperate, Wainuiomata were forced into high risk rugby and the dangerous Woodward capitalised for Upper by running in two late tries and converting them both to seal the five competition points and send Wainuiomata back to the drawing board.

?

Petone v Poneke

Petone retained the Fred Tilyard Memorial Shield with a gritty win against Poneke. Although the final margin was just four points Petone were decisive winners in an often dour contest, conceding a try on the fulltime whistle.

Poneke started brightly enough with a long passage inside the Petone 22 resulting in a Jeremy Te Huia penalty. In a tight opening Sam Hall kicked two penalties for Petone before the turning point of the game. Charlie Ngatai breached Petone' s midfield defence and dashed 40 meters. He seemed certain to score until outstanding debutant Jacob Gooch sliced down an unsighted Ngatai short of the line.

The Ngatai break only cost Petone three, when seven seemed likely. For the remainder of the first half Petone gradually assumed authority and through constant ruck penalties edged ahead 12-6.

Petone' s loose trio of Gooch, Piers Gordon and Mateaki Kafatolu were productive on both defence and attack and it was Kafatolu' s support play which produced the opening try. On the brink of halftime Hayden Cripps wriggled through a crowd of Poneke defenders and just before he tumbled into touch lobbed the ball into the grasp of Kafatolu who secured to score.

The second half saw frequent penalties and no points until a Michael Lealava'a intercept try provided Petone with a winning 24-6 lead.

Although Petone lost last season's Billy Wallace Best and Fairest winner Kafatolu to the sin bin after referee Ron Scott finally took action over the ruck penalties - Petone never looked like losing despite a gusty climax by Poneke who scored two tries to gain a bonus point.

?

Norths v Hutt Old Boys Marist

In this corresponding match last year Norths pulled clear to win 45-29, a flattering round nine scoreline that all but propelled them to the first round title. This match followed a similar pattern before an electric Norths scored two late tries to clinch the win against fellow heavyweight team HOBM.

The Eagles had twice had their noses in front in the first half and were only trailing 22-17 with about 15 minutes to play after they had they won a defensive Norths scrum feed and blindside flanker Deon Carney skipped around the shortside to score.

But as is the case with Norths, they weathered a strong HOBM challenge, particularly up front, to win a match that was less comfortable as the scoreline suggests.

?Aggressive on defence and lightning on the counterattack, Norths won five tries to three. They now haven't lost a Swindale Shield game for exactly two years when Poneke beat them on Gala Day in 2009 and a three-peat of titles is certainly on the cards.

Two stars for Norths were Hurricanes left wing Alapati Leiua, showing no outward signs of a recent injured knee and smiling centre Nene Va'alepu. It was no laughing matter for HOBM when these two got the ball in open space though, in particular Leiua who scored two tries and set up a third.

The game, played in (now) calm, humid conditions had an electric feel about it from the outset as five high quality tries were run in by both sides in the first half and Norths led 22-12 at halftime.

HOBM captain and halfback Nick Risdon scored the first try, following a lovely outside break by new centre and former Heartland XV player James Ross, who passed on his outside to ranging lock Sam Faisandier who in turn found his skipper.

Norths scored their first try through sheer power up the middle when No. 8 Mana Faraimo, looking like he hasn't strayed too far from the gym in the off-season, rampaged to the tryline off the shoulder of second five-eighth Derufeta Silva from a mid-field scrum.

The Eagles swooped for their second try to regain the lead with a try off an attacking lineout and moved to new fullback Steve Honey from the Bay of Plenty (this guy's got serious wheels) and to left wing Reuben Colquhoun to monster over near the corner flag. This made it 12-10 to HOBM.

Norths swept up into HOBM territory in general play, returning halfback David Palu fired a big pass in-field from a ruck near the sideline and who should run on to it but Alapati Leiua. With a head of steam, Leiua sliced straight through four tacklers and scored to make it 17-12 to Norths.

Leiua was in on the action again right before halftime, heavily involved in another raid up the right hand touchline that led to their third try being scored by fullback James So'oialo to give them a 10-point lead at the break.

Norths outscored HOBM two tries to one in the second half - but not before the Eagles came back to 22-17 with their third try to Carney from a defensive Norths scrum after a long period of territorial ascendancy.

But Norths effectively sealed the match with almost 15 minutes to go when centre Va'alepu picked up a spilled ball off the ground with skill, grinned again, took off into space and found Leiua who raced in for his second try. So'oialo's conversion extended the score to 29-17.

They used the full width of the field to score their last try of the afternoon, replacement flanker Josh Hunt sealing the win with a try and replacement hooker Henry Smith had reason to celebrate his 100^th Premier game for Norths.

?

Old Boys University v Tawa

The steady goal kicking of new Burnside recruit Mike Newell helped OBU to a fifth win in six games against fast finishing Tawa.

Newell, the replacement for Highlanders rookie Lima Sopoaga, kicked 18 points and spearheaded the young OBU backline in a narrow victory.

The OBU backline which featured four debutants started urgently when they positioned Newell for the first penalty goal.

Randall Bishop responded quickly for Tawa before OBU scored their solitary try of the afternoon. A stable scrum at their 10 metre-line resulted in flawless ball for Newell who put Luke Harvey in space, Harvey then curled it wide for debutant Tim Mowbray to finish.

Three further penalties by Newell, mainly for ruck Infringements, made it 17-3 to OBU at halftime. At the start of the second half Luke Harvey was sin binned for a reckless tackle which allowed Bishop to kick his second penalty and Tawa to monopolise possession.

However firm defence by OBU, especially from Andrew McWhirter, restrained Tawa. Newell kicked a fifth penalty to make 20-6; at which point Tawa looked buried. However a brilliant solo try by George Tilsley, regaining a chip kick in a 60 metre surge re-energised Tawa.

Con Williams was sin binned for OBU and the deficit was reduced to six with Bishop' s third penalty. However an athletic lineout steal from Thomas Fleming at the Tawa 22 settled the result. From the following ruck Newell calmly slotted a drop goal which made it 23-14 and the last Tilsley try mere consolation.

?

MSP v Wests Roosters

MSP and Wests, who played for the Viv Haigh Memorial Trophy, each scored two unconverted tries in their encounter. But it was the boot of MSP first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili that made the difference for the 2009 champions, Fili kicking an additional three penalties.

MSP blindside flanker Sio Tuia provided the bright spot of the first half, bursting clear from an overthrown Roosters lineout and sprinting almost half the length of the field to score a great solo try. Fili slotted a penalty just before halftime to give his side a slim 8-5 lead at the interval.

Fili extended the lead to 14-5 early in the second half, ahead of halfback Anthony Bradshaw scoring from an attacking lineout in the corner to extend the advantage to 19-5.

The Roosters, invariably a plucky outfit for the big guns to put away in the first round, played true to form and hit back with their second try to close the gap and were unlucky not to at least have earned a bonus point for their efforts.

?Ories v Avalon

Avalon ran out convincing winners over Avalon seven tries to nil, with first five-eighth Trevor Marama and left wing Ambrose Curtis each scoring two tries. Marama had a massive day individually, kicking all seven conversions and three penalties for a personal haul of 33 points. For Avalon, two penalties to Stephen Cross was their only reward.

?

?

?