Waihi Athletic will be hard to top
Hot start and fast finish add up to a comfortable margin for leading side on Thames Valley Senior A table
In the split round of the Thames Valley Senior A rugby competition, Waihi Athletic continued to win with a hefty 51-14 result over Thames. Waihou are keeping the pressure on in second place with a last-gasp victory, 13-12 over Te Aroha Cobras.
Rugby United, a composite Thames Valley under 21 side, lead the way in the Waikato Colts competition after a strong 21-7 win over Hamilton’s Fraser Tech.
Hauraki North Diamonds had a narrow 15-12 loss to United Matamata Sports in the women’s competition.
After a minute of silence in the Anzac spirit, Waihi Athletic kicked off the fifth round match against Thames.
It took only two minutes before Waihi scored the first of their eight tries with prop Siosaia Fifita scoring near the posts. After that, it was point a minute for Waihi, who led 22-0 after 22 minutes.
Eventually Thames had some ball. Lock Corbin Saunders scored wide out and Samuel Tutapu accurately slotted the conversion.
It was more of the same in the second half with Waihi finishing powerfully with three tries in the last 20 minutes.
The cohesive Waihi forward pack couldn’t be faulted with loosies Matty Axtens and Kenan Gillson dominant while rampaging prop James Mahe hunted out the ball and tackled through the entire match.
Waihi Athletic 51 (D Bellamy 2, K Gillson, D Horne, K Inoke , I Seiuli, S Fifita, M Axtens tries, Collard 4 conversions and penalty) Thames 14 (C Saunders, W Waite tries, S Tutapu 2 conversions) Halftime 22-7.
A fantastic local rugby match at Boyd Park, Te Aroha, was not over until the 82nd minute.
An ugly duckling sideline conversion by Ronin Stephenson wobbled over the cross bar to give Waihou a gritty 13-12 win over Te Aroha Cobras.
This was the first time Waihou had led with Cobras ahead 7-0 at the break and 12-6 deep into the game.
Super sub Damon Morgan crucially scored the try.
More accurate goal kicking could have given the Cobras a bigger lead with three gettable penalties missed.
Sergio Schuler at fullback shone for the Cobras with Waihou halfback Devyn Sheehan keeping the ball flowing to the backs.
Te Aroha Cobras 12 ( L Neels, K Paseka tries, S Schuler conversion) Waihou (D Morgan try, R Stephenson conversion and 2 penalties).
Draw (home team named first),
split round Thursday, May 2: Paeroa v Hauraki North, Saturday, May 4: Mercury Bay v Whangamata 2pm kick off. Senior B 12.25pm kick off Saturday, May 4: Whangamata v Te Aroha Cobras, Coromandel v Waihi Athletic, Waihou v Ngatea, Thames v Mercury
Bay, Hauraki North bye. — Donald Mackay