Hamilton too formidable for Matamata team

COMAG Matamata College 1st XV travelled to Hamilton on Saturday to play Hamilton Boys’ High School’s 3rd XV in a semi-final of the Waikato Secondary School’s Rugby 1st Division.

HBHS started strongly and were up 8-0 early on thanks to a try and a penalty.

Strong running by Morgan Steiner and some good kicking by Logan Allen helped Matamata fight back and they were unlucky not to score tries on a couple of occasions.

Both teams were able to add another penalty kick to their tallies leaving the score at 11-3 at the break. Turning with the wind behind them in the second half Matamata came out firing.

The visitors were able to dominate territory and possession. This allowed Allen to slot another 2 penalties, narrowing the gap to 11-9.

Strong defence by Matamata prevented HBHS from crossing their line but with minutes remaining the home side was awarded a penalty in front of the posts.

This extended HBHS’s lead to 14-9. Matamata threw everything at their opponents and a break by Morgan Steiner off a well worked backs move looked promising.

However HBHS’s cover defence were able to hold on and the score stayed at 14-9 meaning HBHS qualified for the final.

The final game of the season is the play-off for third place at home against St John’s on Saturday, kick off at 11am.