Departing Fili fires MSP to win; OBU wins on fulltime against HOBM

As far as parting shots go it was a memorable one. For 70 minutes of the contest the home side Upper Hutt, on their Old Timers' Day, had played with more hustle-bustle, made fewer mistakes, scored two sizzling tries and were far more dangerous in the backs.

But at 6-15 down and staring at their first defeat to Upper Hutt at Premier level since 2002, enter Marist St. Pat's super-sub Fa'atonu Fili in his last outing for the club before he jumps on a plane this Wednesday to take up a professional contract in Yokogawa in Japan.

With his first touch of the ball in an attacking situation, MSP's replacement first five-eighth Fili kicked a penalty into the corner to set up their best chance for points in the entire second half. From the lineout, MSP's forwards drove at the line. The ball was then moved to Fili who attacked the advantage line and turned the ball back on his inside for left wing Jope Nabou for a try. Fili added the extras and the score was now 15-13 to Upper Hutt with six minutes left on the scoreboard clock.

MSP weren't done yet. Now with their tails up they charged back up field, put pressure on the home side and attacked once more through their scrum. However Upper Hutt held them out. Until a penalty was awarded to MSP. With the clock showing 79 minutes, up stepped Fili and, cool as a cucumber, he sent the match winning kick through the uprights to give MSP a 16-15 win. Joy for the visiting team was met with heartbreak for another as Upper Hutt lost a game they were in control of for long periods.

This match at Maidstone Park wasn't the only nail biter of a hotly contested fifth round set of matches - Old Boys-University grabbing a last-gasp win over Hutt Old Boys Marist at Nairnville Park.

In a dramatic finish to a helter-skelter match, OBU hooker Mitch Andrews scored on fulltime to carry his side to a 30-28 victory.

Trailing 25-28 at the time after HOBM prop Simon Malaeulu had scored to take his side into the lead, the Nairnville Park terrace crowd was brought to its feet one last time at the death. The win for OBU lifted them to fourth and HOBM are in seventh.

Meanwhile, leaders Northern United and Oriental-Rongotai remain unbeaten after five rounds, both winning away from home.

At Ian Galloway Park, Norths sauntered to their fifth straight bonus point over the Wests Roosters, pulling clear in the second half to prevail 53-8.

At William Jones Park, Oriental-Rongotai held on against a Piri Weepu-led Wainuiomata to win 23-17.

It was also close at Evans Bay Park, where hosts Poneke held on to beat Tawa 28-21 but not without a fright as Tawa came back in the second half and threatened a repeat of their 35-point comeback win in this match last year.

In the fifth round's other match at Fraser Park, Petone prevailed over Avalon 47-11, but Avalon were right in the match for long periods and could consider themselves unlucky not to have got a lot closer.

Back at Maidstone Park, MSP's win was in part inspired by the introduction of Fili with about 15 minutes to go, while at the same time Upper Hutt's best attacking player on the day and conductor of their two tries Keelan Poi was subbed off.

Playing outside livewire halfback Kayne Hammington, Poi ran hard to the advantage line and distributed well to his midfielders and in-form fullback Jason Woodward. It was Poi's lovely bootlace pick up and step that set up the game's first try in the 20th minute. Poi beat MSP's defence with his footwork and created a hole to put centre Teihana Brown in the clear. Woodward added the extras and Upper Hutt deservedly led 7-6.

There was no more scoring in the first half, but MSP did well to keep Upper Hutt on several occasions in the lead-up to halftime. In a lively contest, Upper Hutt won enough quality ball to free up their dangerous backs and on more than one occasion only the scrambling defence of Vodafone Wellington Lions fullback Apoua Stewart kept them out.

But Stewart and co couldn't keep out Upper Hutt immediately after halftime. Attacking from a midfield scrum 40 metres out, Upper Hutt used the wide shortside. Poi once more ran hard into space, linked up with second five-eighth George Faingaa and centre Brown who ran his brace near the corner. The conversion was missed but Upper Hutt now led 12-6.

The home side kept up the pressure and with the wind behind them comfortably had the better of territory for the next 20 minutes. MSP, missing injured captain and key lineout forward Nick Passi, were struggling to contain the boys in burgundy. But for all their efforts, all they could muster was a further penalty to Woodward, making it 15-6.

The game was far from safe for the home side if MSP could find some spark to their play. Changes were made to both sides and in the end it was MSP's that proved the most inspired and Fili came on and won the day.

There was good news for Upper Hutt supporters in the curtain raiser, with their Senior 2 National Mutual Cup team grabbing its fourth win of that competition in beating MSP 43-13.

On the far field at Maidstone Park, Hutt Old Boys Marist scored a late try to clinch a 19-9 win against Upper Hutt in the U21 grade.

At William Jones Park in Wainuiomata, the home side threw everything at leaders Ories throughout much of the match and particularly towards the end. But like last week, the defence of the Miramar contenders held up under tremendous pressure.

Earlier, Wainuiomata had taken an 8-6 lead when right wing Hami Henry scored in the corner to finish off a converted period of attacking play by the home side.

But Ories came back with two tries and 14 unanswered points and led 20-8. Second five-eighth Johnny Sola crossed from a forward drive and his try was converted from the sideline by first five-eigthh Trevor Marama. More pressure then saw centre Paulo Aukoso intercept a Piri Weepu pass in front of Wainuiomata's posts and he strolled over for a second seven-pointer.

Now it was the turn of Wainuiomata to apply the blowtorch at the other end of the field. However the black and white wall was impregnable and Weepu had to settle for a penalty to close the gap to 20-11. There was still plenty of time left and Wainuiomata continued to hammer away. But again, their only scoring came through two more penalties. Ories also added a late penalty to make sure of their fifth win. Marama ended the match on 71 points and is now the leading points scorer in the competition.

There was also a minute's silence at the start of the Wainuiomata - Ories match in recognition of Ories Life Member Colin Bridge who passed away during the week.

In a close set of results for the Ories club, their Senior 1s drew their fifth round Harper Lock Shield match with Paramata-Plimmerton at Ngatitoa Domain, while their Colts went down 21-22 to MSP in the opening round of the Paris Memorial Trophy U21 competition.

At Nairnville Park, OBU also won the Wood Cup off HOBM in their match. The Eagles led 23-20 throughout much of the second half after right wing Reuben Colquhoun had scored a converted try to put his side ahead.

OBU had led 17-16 at halftime with tries to locks Dan Mellon and Mike Scott against tries to HOBM to left wing Taleta Tupuola and right wing Polonga Pedro.

OBU first five-eighth Mike Newell banged over two penalties after the break and Colquhoun scored his try, but the drama was unfolding at that point. Both sides scored further unconverted tries and HOBM maintained a three-point advantage until the very end when the students overtook them at the end.

The Wood Cup that these two sides contested was first played for in 1960 between Wellington College Old Boys and High School Old Boys. It was presented by leading HSOB club administrator Mr Wood. It was first played for in the Senior 2nd grade and was won by HSOB 13-5.

HOBM prevailed over OBU in both the fifth round Senior 1 and Senior 2 clashes between the clubs. In the curtain raiser at Nairnville Park, HOBM clawed back a 10-13 deficit to win 41-28 and grab their fifth consecutive win of the Harper Lock Shield competition.

The HOBM-OBU Senior 2 National Mutual Cup fixture at Martin Luckie Park was a top-of-the-table clash, with the Eagles prevailing 17-11 and they too remain unbeaten.

HOBM's Senior 1 side are joined by stil unbeaten Poneke at the head of the table after Poneke held off the challenge of winless Tawa 32-8 at Evans Bay Park.

In the main game that followed at Evans Bay Park, Tawa pushed Poneke close and deserved their bonus point that could prove crucial as the race for Jubilee Cup spots intensifies over the second half of the first round competition.

Poneke led throughout the match, but were pushed hard by Tawa. Poneke grabbed an early 10-0 lead through a penalty to first five-eighth Jeremy Te Huia and a Te Huia try after a run by hooker Kelvin Harper. But from the kick-off, a Tawa chargedown led to a try to veteran centre Junior Togia that was converted to close the gap to 10-7.

Te Huia added a second penalty and captain and No. 8 Misipalauni Moananu scored the first of his two tries. Te Huia then booted a third penalty on halftime and the red and blacks led 23-7 at the break.

Moananu crashed over again early in the second half to extend the advantage to 28-7. Tawa then came back into the contest with two converted tries, to first five-eighth Phillip Finau and flanker TJ Fermanis to close to within seven points. It was now game on, but Poneke held on for their fourth win and they are now third on the table behind Norths and Ories.

Petone are a point back in fourth, following their third win against a spirited Avalon for the Morgan Family Trophy at Fraser Park. Avalon were particularly competitive up front and restricted Petone to 18-6 at halftime. For Petone, midfielders Cam Incledon and Nick Grigg, on debut, scored first half tries. Avalon kicked two penalties, including a long-range strike by fullback Joyner Keys on halftime.

Playing with the wind advantage in the second half, Petone pulled clear through tries to No. 8 Piers Gordon, first five-eighth Ben Aoina, fullback Tomasi Alosio, replacement midfielder Michael Lealava'a and replacement hooker Ben van de Westhuyzen and won comfortably in the end.

It was a different story in the Senior 2 curtain raiser at Fraser Park that saw Avalon prevail 48-23 and take its fourth win and also keep Petone winless. Petone's Senior 1 side fared much better, sauntering to a 49-15 win over strugglers Stokes Valley at Delaney Park.

At Ian Galloway Park, the Norths machine rolled on against the Wests Roosters who are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table. However, in windy conditions, it wasn't all one-way traffic for the visitors who were held to just 10-3 late in the first half.

A long-range try to left wing Inoke Rasabele was Norths' lot, until blindside flanker Aiden Cains scored from a defensive Wests scrum to see his side go into the break leading 17-3.

The second half was all Norths, the visitors adding a further seven tries and sweeping past the 200-point mark for the season in the process.

Cains grabbed a double, while Rasabele sliced through for a hat trick in just his second Premier match for Norths. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Jonah Lomu, Roy Kinikinilau and Francis Seumanutafa, Rasabele is a converted loose forward now being unleashed on the wing.

Meanwhile, Norths' Senior 1 side are the defending Harper Lock Shield champions and they grabbed their third win of that grade, beating Johnsonville 24-16 at Helston Park and retaining the Barlow trophy.

In the Senior 2 curtain raiser at Ian Galloway Park, the Norths Senior 2 side grabbed its first win of the season with a comprehensive 46-10 win over the Wests Roosters Senior 2nds.

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