Old Boys improve on first up outing
Predictions of a close premier club rugby competition in 2017 appear on the mark judging by the early evidence.
After just two weeks of play Coastal remain the only unbeaten team while Clifton are the sole side yet to have a win.
Coastal took maximum points against Stratford-Eltham at Rahotu but they had to work pretty hard and without the same amount of possession as the visitors enjoyed in the 24-15 win.
What they did do really well was take their opportunities.
That was especially true in the first half when they created four try scoring chances and took them all to end the half with a healthy 24-3 lead.
Stratford-Eltham came back into the match and worked really hard but Coastal managed to hold on with some pretty good defence.
Coastal coach Aaron Fisher was impressed with the work of wing Liam Parker who made some crucial tackles, Brett Goodin controlled things well at first fiveeighth while hooker Cal Davies continued his good start to the season.
Stratford’s best players were prop Kyle Stewart, openside Matthew Kissick and second fiveeighth Simon Edwards.
New Plymouth Old Boys bounced back from that loss to beat Clifton 39-24 in the CMK feature match at Vogeltown Park.
While the final score indicates the game was relatively close, two late tries to Clifton flattered them somewhat as Old Boys always looked in control of the game.
The home side got much the better start and had scored three tries within the first half hour as they exploited plenty of space through the Clifton midfield.
Clifton kept themselves in the game by scoring just before the break but any momentum they got from that was lost straight after the re-start as Old Boys scored before they worked their way out to a 39-12 lead.
By the end of the match Old Boys had scored seven tries to four, with Brayton Nothcott-Hill grabbing a brace.
Clifton captain Matt McKenzie did the same but he was too often a lone hand in a backline that appears to need a tweak or two given some of their best players saw little ball.
Old Boys captain Caleb Mawson thought their defence improved from their first up loss, especially close to the ruck.
‘‘I think from an attacking point of view we used width pretty well and got into our structures pretty early,’’ he said. ‘‘We stretched them really well.’’
One thing that was a noticeable difference between the two sides was the number of forwards Old Boys had who could get involved anywhere on the park. They also played with quicker ball.
Defending champions Tukapa also bounced back from their firstup loss to Stratford-Eltham to beat Southern 23-20 in Hawera.
While there were still plenty of mistakes from Tukapa they played a lot better as a team while they also benefited from having captain Mitchell Crosswell in the pitch for some of the match as he returns from injury.
Lock Steve Needham and wing Jade Grayling were picked up for their performances.
Southern coach Jason Skipper said they made too many mistakes and did not do enough hard work in the first half, describing them as struggling to get out of second gear.
He urged the forwards to do more in the second half and he got a response but it was not enough as Tukapa punished their mistakes.
The tight five, openside Daniel Hornby and No 8 Daniel Parete were their best.
Inglewood also got their first Inglewood 29 Spotswood United 20 Tukapa 23 Southern 20 Coastal 24 Stratford-Eltham 15 NPOB 39 Clifton 24
win of the season when they beat Spotswood United 29-20 at Yarrow Stadium.
Spotswood United coach Rhys Connell said they gave away too many silly penalties to deserve to win the match. Their best players were blindside Ethan Perrett and wing Paula Havea.
Inglewood’s best players were second five-eighth Cody Brown, lock Jason Rolfe and No 8 Isaac Hekanui.