Raiders get a win; Cowboys, Tigers march on

THE Cowboys and Tigers keep marching on, and the Raiders finally have their season under way, following round four of the southern competition.

The Invercargill Cowboys ran rampant over He Tauaa to continue their dominant start to the season. The Cowboys forward pack stretched the He Tauaa defence for the full 80 minutes.

Debutant Chris Apoua carried the ball hard through the middle and crashed over twice to make a major impact.

Veteran Koery Pennicott led from the front in directing the Cowboys attack.

Daniel Low sealed the win for the Cowboys, scoring a try and making seven conversions, keeping the game well out of reach for He Tauaa.

The Cowboys ran in comfortable 468 winners, keeping their unbeaten run alive.

After a couple of weeks of uncertainty with players, the South Pacific Raiders finally got on the board, convincingly beating University.

The Raiders took a liking to University’s right side, as centre Kail Spooner and winger Chase Stephens proved to be a handful. Both scored doubles.

The Raiders’ defence backed up their attack, and the side was feeling confident going into halftime up 226.

But they looked shaky at the start of the second half, with plenty of errors creeping into their game.

However, the students were unable to capitalise with their gifted possession, and the Raiders were able to get back their momentum off the back of some carries by Benny Rumble through the middle of the park.

The Raiders goalline defence also held up well to restrict the students, and the Raiders ran away with a 3812 win.

Coach David Reedy said it was good to get their first win under their belts and get their season under way.

Kia Toa showed a brilliant team display with the Memorial Trophy on the line against the Cooks.

Taniora Taiia and Hayden Ryder left their mark on debut for the Tigers, with some fantastic runs.

The Tigers favoured the edges, and found themselves running in plenty of tries as the Cooks struggled to tie up the ball.

It was a proud win for Kia Toa, who took the Memorial Trophy thanks to its 5016 win.