Te Awamutu fumbles lead in draw
Morrinsville steals late try to tie game with TA Sports
The Ecolab Te Awamutu Sports premier side will still be wondering how they didn’t leave Morrinsville’s Campbell Park with four points banked on Saturday, stumbling to an injury-time draw 25-25 with Morrinsville Sports in the Waikato Club Rugby premier grade.
It was a match where Te Awamutu were in control of the game - until all of a sudden they weren’t - racing out to a 22-6 lead just after halftime, only to see it slowly erode over the course of the second spell.
Clinging desperately to a sevenpoint lead with 10 minutes to play, they were caught short around the ruck, right under the posts deep in injury time.
The afternoon started out well, a strong set piece and intensity at the breakdown led to early pressure and a Dillon Martin penalty goal for an early lead.
Some messy interplay through the backs led to a turnover, but an erratic Morrinsville pass fell into fullback Cody Nordstrom’s hands, who spun around and raced 25 metres to score.
A few errors and ill-discipline took the hosts’ hand and led them back into the game with two penalty goals to close the gap to two, but on the stroke of halftime, midfielder Logan Karl drifted beautifully outside his man from a Martin wide pass, drawing the last man to put fellow midfielder Queyst Michael-Tapu over.
Martin’s conversion gave Te Awamutu a 15-6 lead at the break.
Sports exploded into the second half, with winger Austin Frederick breaking down the left flank.
A few rucks later, loose forward Niah Church-Jones took his season tally to four as he powered over the line.
Martin’s conversion from out wide had the visitors in full control at 22-6.
From here, cracks began to erode the good work Sports had done, with errors and discipline anchoring them in their half and fueling a desperate Morrinsville side’s growing confidence.
The lead slowly shrank as the half progressed and when Morrinsville scored to close the gap to seven points with 10 to play, they rode the momentum of the home crowd in full voice.
Sports shot themselves in the foot time after time, eventually once too many, gifting Morrinsville the ball close to the line to seal their fate.
Youngster Austin Frederick stood out. He was dangerous down the left flank and impressive around the field in only his third game at premier level.
Tries: Cody Nordstrom, Queyst Michael-Tapu, Niah Church-Jones
Goals: Dillon Martin - 4/5 (2 conversions, 2 penalties)
MVP Points: 3: Austin Frederick, 2: Niah Church-Jones, 1: Jake Russ
Ecolab Te Awamutu Sports Premier Development
Much like their premier counterparts, the Ecolab Te Awamutu Sports Premier Development side raced out to an early lead but fell away, going down 14-24 to Morrinsville Sports B at Campbell Park.
Exploding out of the gates, Te Awamutu put the hosts to the sword in the opening stages, rewarded when Ryley Emery took the ball off the back of the scrum and offloaded to halfback Ben Mylchreest who crashed over to open the scoring.
Fullback George Poolman added the extras for the early 7-0 lead.
Quick ruck ball had the hosts on their heels and under pressure again when Poolman chipped ahead for winger Cullen Bevan, who kicked ahead again, then deftly tapped the ball up and over the scrambling defender to race away for Sports’ second try and a 14-0 lead in less than 10 minutes.
That’s where the good would end though for Sports. A spiral of errors and penalties opened the door for the hosts to grind their way back, slowing the game down and drawing Te Awamutu into the slow grind, finally gaining reward for their endeavours on the stroke of halftime.
Te Awamutu were ahead 14-7 at the break.
Still well in the game, Sports made the worst possible start, letting Morrinsville in to tie the game early in the half.
Despite patches of continuity and control, they only got in their own way, Morrinsville taking their first lead at the hour mark with their third try.
Sensing the game slipping away, Te Awamutu became more and more desperate, which only made matters worse, being kept in the game by some outstanding desperation defence but handing the ball back to the hosts time and time again, the final nail in the coffin being a late penalty goal.
Tries: Ben Mylchreest, Cullen Bevan
Goals: George Poolman: 2/3 (2 conversions)