Whiti Te Ra pushed before remaining unbeaten
RUGBY LEAGUE: A narrow win over Randwick has seen Whiti Te Ra finish the Wellington premier rugby league round-robin unbeaten.
As it turned out, Whiti Te Ra nearly had their extraordinary run come to an end on Saturday before prevailing with a close 12-8 win over the Randwick Kingfishers at Naenae Park after being 6-4 up at halftime.
In what could possibly be a dress rehearsal for both teams prior to the grand final, both Randwick and Whiti Te Ra refused to surrender in a game that flowed superbly with few penalties.
The difference came down to goalkicking and with the home side having both of their tries scored out wide, it was too much of an ask for their goalkicker to convert. Whiti Te Ra scored both their tries close to the posts to allow for the straightforward conversion attempts to be successful.
A huge workload on defence around the middle resulted in the loose forward Teariki Peneha picking up the Whiti Te Ra player of the day, while both David Saumolia and his brother Logan both had solid games for the Kingfishers.
A hat-trick of tries from the Petone loose forward Matt Wanoa resulted in the Panthers picking up a 30-16 win over the St George Dragons at Cannons Creek after the scores had been tied up at 10-10 at halftime.
The first quarter belonged to the home side as they led 10-0 before tiring in the second to allow Wanoa to seize the gaps and to help even the scores.
Despite St George bringing on four fresh substitutes at the start of the second half, Petone continued on where they had left off and through also having greater possession through superior ball handling, the Panthers finished off their season in professional style to end sixth on the table.
The Victoria University Hunters also ended their season in style by beating the Porirua Vikings 72-6 after leading 48-0 at halftime at Ian Galloway Park.
With a big crowd watching on, the Hunters often caught the Vikings out wide with their wingers Reihana Tanoa and Lewis England scoring four and two tries respectively. The match marked the final appearance of both England and the Hunters coach Greg Selwyn, who has now retired due to work and family commitments.
The fourth round 18 fixture resulted in the Te Aroha Eels beating the Upper Hutt Tigers 68-14 at Whakatiki Street after being 36-14 up halftime.
Te Aroha scrumhalf Tyler Tane scored 36 points for the Eels with four tries and ten converted goals, while Ben Manu returned to the Tigers after a seven week absence to score a brace of tries.
The Wainuiomata Lions had the bye and will now play Randwick at Naenae Park on Saturday in the first semifinal, while Te Aroha play Whiti Te Ra at the Otaki Domain.
Whiti Te Ra’s unbeaten run was believed to be the best season of Wellington premier rugby league since the 1986 Upper Hutt team finished with 18 wins and a draw.