Whangaroa golf
In trying weather which caused delays, the Whangaroa women’s 18- and 36-hole teams bought pennant flags home from the Northland pennants finals in Whanga¯rei on Monday. Results from last Thursday’s stableford haggle were,women: Mary Tansey 39, Trudy Nikora 37, Faye Sherman 35, men: Stephen Tansey and Dave Nicholas both hitting 40, with Paul Wilton, John Toheriri, Joseph Solomon and John Jepson all coming in with 37. From the stableford competition on Sunday, Division 1: Warren Martin 39, Ian Hills 36, John O’Neil 35, Dave Nicholas 31; Division 2: Nigel Dobson 37, Dave Robinson 35, Barry Carty 33 and Stephen Tansey 32. Results from the penultimate week of the regular Rugby League Northland Premiership season last Saturday were, O¯ tangarei Knights 28 Hora Hora Broncos 20, Takahiwai Warriors 56 Portland Panthers 26, while as the sole Far North side in the competition, Moerewa Tigers had the bye. Sitting well clear in third, the Tigers host top-of-the-table O¯ tangarei this Saturday. Standings are O¯ tangarei 24 points, Takahiwai 23, Moerewa 21, Portland 10, Hora Hora 4. Sevens squad. Both sides are preparing to defend their titles at the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco next week. A high-stakes new knock-out format will effectively equalise the playing field for the 24 countries in the men’s tournament, and 16 national unions in the women’s field. This leg of the Rugby World Cup Sevens will be broadcast live on Duke including the qualifying rounds. Fixtures of Far North relevance in the next round of Stafford Choat Cup, Bowl and Plate games (as made by Football Fern Katie Rood in Whanga¯rei on Tuesday morning) on Saturday, July 28, are as follows. Stafford Choat Cup round 3 (round of 16): Kerikeri NMP vs Tikipunga Pet Essentials NM1, Kaeo-Inter FC NM2 vs Bream Bay United NM2, Kaitaia United NM1 vs Central Brown Reserves NM2; Stafford Choat Bowl round 2: Kerikeri Siteworx NM2 vs FC Whanga¯rei Reserves NM1, Mangawhai NM1 vs Kaitaia United NM3, O¯ nerahi NM2 v Kaikohe NM2, bye; Kaikohe Scorpions NM3. For the Stafford Choat Plate semi finals on Saturday, September 1: Bay Cosmos NM2 v Tikipunga Ryco 24-7 NM3, Tikipunga Bake Cafe´ NM2 v Paihia NM3.