Baabaas continue unbeaten run

The Eastern-Northern Barbarians have continued their impressive start to the season in Southland premier club rugby.

They claimed their fourth win on the trot with a 24-10 victory over Woodlands in the top of the table clash on Friday night at the Gore Showgrounds.

Woodlands grabbed an early lead thanks to a James Ng try in the corner after a Kaleni Taetuli break, which new recruit Wharenui Hawera converted.

The Barbarians were down 10-9, but secured a crucial try just before halftime to Stags tight forward Morgan Mitchell from a prolonged period of pressure, to take the lead which they never relinquished.

Mitchell burst onto a short ball and put on a fend and surged over.

Some strong second half defence by the home team paved the way for the victory as the Barbarians scored a converted try and penalty to close out the win 24-10.

Jim Bulitavu scored Barbarians second try following a charged down kick and some excellent interplay between backs and forwards.

Halfback Jackson Wallace had an excellent game kicking four penalties and a conversion.

‘‘We are obviously unbeaten at the moment, they are all quite crucial games, although it is only the first round,’’ Eastern-Northern Barbarians coach Bretton Taylor said.

‘‘I guess we are reasonably satisfied with where we are at, but like most teams we are looking to improve on what we are doing." ‘‘We are happy enough, but it is early days.’’

Taylor also singled out player of the day Willie McKee, Mitchell, Wallace, Lachie McCall and Neil Warnock for special mention.

Woodlands coach Damian Pine was happy with the way the team started, but paid credit to the opposition’s defence.

‘‘They scored all the points in the second half, they just shut us out and they scored a converted try and a penalty in the second half,’’ he said.

‘‘I think that there defence was well organised and we just couldn’t find a way through. The try in the second half came from a charged down kick so I guess it was in some ways unfortunate, but they definitely deserved to win.’’

Meanwhile, a Liam Howley double on the back of a strong Pirates-Old Boys scrum paved the way for a 29-18 victory over Marist.

The Hawks outscored the hosts four tries to two in testing conditions to overtake Woodlands and climb to second position on the ladder.

Wade McRae and electric winger Materua Tupou also scored tries for the visitors, while Greg Dyer kicked three conversions and a penalty in windy conditions.

Cameron Wood, McRae and Tupou produced some excellent performances, while new Stags signing James Schrader and the experienced Bryan Milne caused problems in the midfield for Marist, until Milne was forced from the field with a hamstring injury just before halftime.

Javaan Fa’amoe-Ioane and Will Murray scored two well taken tries for the home team who were gallant in defeat, while Jayleel Fa’amoe-Ioane kicked two penalties in a strong performance.

Ben Fotheringham had a strong game at lock for the home team, while captain Tangaroa Walker was named player of the day, Shaun Tamariki made an impact off the bench.

In the other premier grade match, Blues accounted for Star 29-16 on Thursday night to remain in contention, leaving Star at the bottom of the table.