Contrasting results in dramatic seventh round

Above: Teru Time celebrating scoring the match winning try for Wainuiomata over MSP. Wainuiomata won 31-24.

There's the Swindale Shield contenders and then there's the competition strugglers. Both were involved in contrasting circumstances in a dramatic seventh round of Premier matches in Wellington club rugby today.

At the top of the table, are Tawa, who grabbed their sixth win in seven matches over a spirited Old Boys University. Tawa scored the winning try with about five minutes to play and then held on by the skin of their teeth as OBU launched one last raid. Tawa won 22-19.

At the bottom end of the table, and sadly, grabbing the headlines for the wrong reasons, are Rimutaka who were dispatched 0-127 by the Hutt Old Boys Marist Eagles. They conceded 18 tries and were behind 0-66 at halftime. With four rounds to play, the Premier 2 Hardham Cup can't come soon enough for them.

Other results were no less dramatic on a day of extremes for the various scoreboard operators, or those clubs that bother to provide scoreboards.

Petone edged out Poneke 25-24 on their Old Timers' Day at the Petone Recreation Ground. No. 8 Darren Munro scored at the very end to give the Villagers the win and the Fred Tilyard Trophy for another season.? Petone came from behind to beat Poneke, conceding a 12-17 halftime deficit. Sam O'Leary scored for Petone to put them in front 20-17, but Tauaosi Tuimavave crossed for a try to see Poneke re-take the lead. Munro had the last say, however, his try sealing a thrilling win.

Wainuiomata beat Marist St Pat's 31-24 on MSP's Old Timers' Day at Evans Bay Park, centre Teru Time breaking a 24-24 deadlock and scoring the match winner for the green and blacks at the end.

Oriental-Rongotai pulled clear of Upper Hutt at the Polo Grounds to win 55-21 and retain the Bob Lendrum Cup. It was close throughout the first 40 minutes, Ories scoring two tries through Hurricanes and New Zealand U20 flanker Ardie Savea and taking a 20-14 into halftime. Ories extended their lead after the break and scored seven tries in all.

In another match of high scoring proportions, Northern United raced clear to beat the Wests Roosters 97-48 at Porirua Park. The 145 points scored in this match is believed to be a cumulative record in Wellington Premier rugby. Like some of the other games, it was close early on. Norths led 12-10 after about half an hour before putting the afterburners late in the first half and early in the second. Wests joined in on the Sevens-style rugby, scoring seven tries themselves.

The end result is a veritable logjam on the points table. Positions fifth through nine on the Swindale Shield points table are separated by just two points. The top eight finishing teams qualify for the Hardham Cup. There are four rounds to play and a maximum of 20 points still up for grabs

There were similar high scores in the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and Senior 2 National Mutual Cup competitions, where a clear top four is developing.

The Wellington Axemen are the outright leaders in the Harper Lock Shield, after beating Upper Hutt 95-10 in their match.

Johnsonville are second after beating Paremata-Plimmerton 39-3, closely followed by OBU who beat Tawa 36-24 and Avalon who overcame Norths 31-20.

In the two other Senior 1 games, MSP over-ran Wainuiomata 39-13 and Petone finished on top of Poneke 21-7.

Hutt Old Boys Marist continued their march towards the National Mutual Cup title, beating Stokes Valley 45-14 and reclaiming the Patterson Memorial Trophy. The HOBM third fifteen are the only unbeaten through seven rounds of the top three grades.

Hot on their heels though are Ories and Avalon, who each won their sixth matches today. Ories beat Johnsonville 33-8 for the Ash Pointon Cup and Avalon beat fellow Hutt Valley side Wainuiomata 42-12.

OBU round out the top four in the Senior 2 grade, beating MSP 34-11. In other matches, Petone made it three from three against Poneke teams on their Old Timers' Day, winning 42-24, while Norths accounted for the Wests Roosters 81-22.

In some scoring highlights from today's Swindale Shield matches, six players scored hat tricks.

Unsurprisingly, three of these hat-tricks were scored by HOBM players - Glen Walters, James Kusel and Brandyn Laursen. A fourth was scored by a former HOBM player playing on the wing for ?the Wests Roosters, Tupeni Kamakorewa.

Norths players, fullback Johnny Teleaga, and wing AJ Va'alepu scored three tries each for Norths. Nene Va'alepu also scored a brace, so the brothers scored five tries between them.

For HOBM, Brandyn Laursen kicked 17 of 18 conversions. He also kicked a penalty to go with his three tries. He scored 52 points, which was two more than Poneke fullback Tuimavavae scored against Rimutaka a few games back.

Jackson Garden-Bachop kicked 11 of 15 conversion attempts and added a penalty for 25 points, while Carne Green kicked five penalties for Peton and Liam Berry scored a try and kicked 11 points for Upper Hutt. Fa'atonu Fili chimed in with 18 points off the kicking tee for Ories.

For full game-by-game match reports from round seven click here

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