Swindale Shield heavyweights get season off to sluggish start

IF ANYONE thought the Swindale Shield competition was going to be run of the mill then they will be thinking otherwise after Saturday’s opening round.

Not only did Northern United get knocked over, but Marist St Pat’s and Petone joined them in the beaten brigade.

Norths lost 46-34 to Upper Hutt at Porirua Park, an unfortunate start for new Norths coach Ross Bond but he must have said something right at halftime as his side recovered from 38-15 down.

Petone were turned over by Wainuiomata, who pulled a rabbit from the hat by naming Piri Weepu in their lineup. Weepu wore No 10 and kicked 10 points as Wainuiomata came from 7-6 down at halftime to win 23-13 at William Jones Park.

Weepu was sound apart from a casual play at a Petone kick, knocking on with very little pressure on him. He was given wonderful service from halfback Frae Wilson, which allowed Weepu to distribute as he liked and he favoured throwing skip passes to his outside backs.

Marist St Pat’s had to bow to a fit Old Boys University at Evans Bay Park. The students scored three tries to none in their 19-15 victory, two of their touchdowns to lock Dan Mellon.

Fa’atonu Fili kept MSP in the hunt with five penalty goals and early in the second half they led 15-12 but fittingly Mellon crashed over in the corner and OBU first five-eighth Seminar Manu capped a solid game with the sideline conversion.

At Ian Galloway Park, defending Jubilee Cup champions Oriental-rongotai kept Western Suburbs interested for a while, before kicking away to win 41-21. Wests came back from 29-6 down to trail by just 29-21 with 25 minutes remaining.

However, two late tries to Ories fullback Matt Proctor, including one from halfway, ensured the visitors finished comfortable winners. Wing Ambrose Curtis kicked 11 points and scored a brace of tries for the victors.

Hutt Old Boys’ Marist did it pretty comfortably in beating Tawa 29-18 at Lyndhurst Park. The final scoreline probably flattered the hosts, who were second best for much of the match.

Down 24-6, at one point, Tawa did rally in the second spell thanks to two tries from fullback Randall Bishop and another by second five-eighth Jeff Makapelu. Meanwhile, newly promoted Rimutaka were no match for Poneke at Maoribank Park, losing 26-3.