Rare draw highlight of round 2
ROUND two of the ORL Premier competition featured a rare 3232 draw between the Dunedin Bears and the South Pacific Raiders, and a tightly contested 2822 victory for University over the Kia Toa Tigers.
The South Pacific Raiders got off to a flying start, with their outside backs utilising speed and footwork to break the line with ease, and find their way to the tryline on four occasions inside the first 20 minutes of the encounter. The forwards continued to power their way through the middle, with Manassah Kutia, Corey Senelale and James Piho taking the hard hit ups to gain the momentum for their attack. Just before halftime the Raiders were dealt a blow when Joseph Mackle broke his arm, leaving them with one less player.
The Bears were 200 down before staging their comeback. Sebastian Potgieter came on from the bench and had an immediate impact.
The second half was a real contest, with both sides looking the likely winner at different stages. In the end, nothing could separate them, and when the fulltime whistle sounded they were level at 3232.
University took the lead in the competition after securing another win, this time against the Tigers. The Tigers have been hit by injuries early in the season, and the injury list unfortunately contains several key players. However, they were in the contest for the entirety of this match, due to some standout performances.
Lock Hagan Free led the way in the middle, with several of his hit ups resulting in quick play the balls that sent the University defence scrambling. Apii Taia also had an immense performance, busting through tackles seemingly at will with strong ball running.
Free and Taia laid the platform for the Tigers’ attack, and Joseph Wrathall took control of that attack from hooker, manipulating the ruck defence and putting his players into space.
However, University’s defence was up to the task, especially on its own try line. Fullback Finn Langdale, who made multiple try saving tackles in a manofthematch performance, best demonstrated the defensive strength of his side. Langdale was also a threat on attack, with his metres from kick returns getting University out of trouble and putting it into strong positions to attack from.
Captain Ricki Allan’s return from injury helped the team and he topped the tackle count with 34 tackles and took 14 hitups, the most for his side, as well as scoring a try.
Jong Hoon Lee was only a couple away from his captain in yet another standout performance, racking up 31 tackles and taking 13 hit ups.
Starting the second half with a 12point lead, University needed a strong second half against a determined Tigers outfit. The Tigers managed to draw level at 2222 with 20 minutes to go, but University scored a try to get six points out in front before closing the game out in the last 10 minutes to ensure it remained unbeaten as the fulltime whistle blew.