Onewhero victory bucks form book
Onewhero produced a stunning upset in the McNamara Cup defeating Ardmore 35-25 at Onewhero on Saturday.
The home side found themselves down to the top-ranked side at halftime but a stirring second half performance helped to seal a bonus point win. They opened up a big game lead and then had to hold on as Ardmore Marist came storming back.
‘‘It was a tight battle in the first half and the defense was great,’’ Onewhero assistant coach Elliot Hira said.
‘‘We scored some good tries in the second half.’’
The win lifts Onewhero to fifth on the ladder.
Patumahoe moved to the top of the table, leap-frogging Ardmore Marist in the process, as they toppled Waiuku 38-5.
Jeff Maka’s side improved their record to seven wins and one loss, and will finish top after the first round should they beat Ardmore Marist this week.
Te Kauwhata recorded their first win of the season with a 17-12 win over Papakura in the Counties Power game of the week.
‘‘It was good. We knew it was going to be close,’’ coach Stephen Hickey said.
‘‘We had a really good first half – probably played best controlled rugby we’ve had all year and then as we tired a bit, they really came back at us in the second half.
Bombay won the local derby against Pukekohe in a close match 22-18 in which the home side needed to come back from a halftime deficit. Coach Jeff Marr said the wet conditions meant the game became a tight tussle.
‘‘Just after kick-off it hosed down and it stayed that way for the rest of the half,’’ Marr said.
‘‘We were really pleased to get the five points but were ruing missing a few opportunities.’’
Karaka held their place in the top four with hard-fought 20-17 win over Manurewa at Karaka Sports Complex.
Manurewa came out firing to take a 14-0 lead before Karaka worked themselves back into the game.
‘‘At the end it was the same as last week – our bench had a lot of impact and in that last 20 minutes we might have had a bit more fitness than them,’’ Karaka coach Craig Hill said.
Papakura’s Premier 2 side reversed their top team’s result by beating Te Kauwhata 15-0. Other Premier 2 sides to win were Bombay, Onewhero, Karaka and Patumahoe while Maramarua beat Puni in Premier 3 action.