Marist vs Ngamatapouri – Match Report 8th August
By Jared Smith
It was scrappy play, whistle heavy, a half-executed game plan, and the sacrifice of a quart of blood, but Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist got the five points they desperately needed at Spriggens Park on Saturday.
Marist’s Tasman Tanning Premier squad signed off on Club Family Day at Spriggens with a 28-5 win over Settlers Ngamatapouri to leapfrog them into fourth place on the table – now with the inside track on their opponents and McCarthy Transport Ruapehu in the race for the last semifinal berth.
Going into a strong head wind in the opening stanza, Marist backed themselves to hold off Ngamatapouri’s strong ball-runners before turning them around in the second stanza with smart kicking.
It didn’t quite work that way – down 14-0 at the break, Ngamatapouri immediately responded with a classic attacking try from inside their own half at the resumption, and would continue to play the greater share of the match inside Marist’s territory, as the home side didn’t kick as well as they wanted and made a lot of mistakes working off their set piece.
However, Marist were gritty and had it over the visitors when it came to defensive turnovers – holding Ngamatapouri’s up big Fijians or isolating them in the tackle, as referee Noah Viliamu kept up a steady symphony on the whistle.
It got too much for Waitotara Valley team’s patience, as they went without fullback Terau Whirihana on either side of halftime with a yellow card for backchat, while a reserve was sinbinned for striking Marist first-five Sean Cummins when he was impeding him – Cummins also getting a yellow card but he was off permanently anyway in a bloodied state.
In a physical clash, Marist lock Brad O’Leary needed a jersey change and his head wrapped tighter than a mummy after early contact laid his forehead open, while Ngamatapouri’s chances were further hamstrung when key men in No8 Bryn Hudson (calf) and second-five Jim Seruwalu (back) were both gone by the early second half.
Ngamatapouri’s locks Mairangi Tamehana and Josaia Dawai tried to create opportunities, as did tryscoring No8 Samu Kubunavanua until a knee injury slowed him down.
But come fulltime and frustrated Ngamatapouri manager Gerald Pearce’s biggest contention was the mounting infringement calls against his team.
“We played Marist in the first game with the same ref, and we had the same trouble, and we haven’t had any other trouble this season.
“It’s just not on, when it’s such an important game. Every time we got down that end we got a penalty against us. It makes it hard work for us now.
“We competed in most spheres of the game, and in the second half, in the wind, we were on attack for 80 per cent of the time.”
Marist coach Travers Hopkins will take the competition points however he can get them, even if his side needed until late in the match to create enough momentum and territory for two more tries.
“In the first half I thought we did well, defending for the long patches that we did.
“Our game plan in the second was to pin the corners, but I don’t know, when we play Ngamat we just seem to get into that helter-skelter style of play.
“Credit to them, they do it really well, they’re probably the best in this competition in doing that, but I guess the thing for us is to stick to our structure.”
Leading the way up front to get the key turnovers and stifle Ngamatapouri’s busts were the likes of skipper Bradley Graham and hooker Jack Yarrall, along with the veterans in prop Ian Hawkes for the first half and reserve Simon Dibben moving into the unfamiliar role of flanker during the second.
“These young guys, they need those experienced guys around them, it certainly helps them out there,” said Hopkins.
“Obviously the win was first and foremost on our cards, but to come away with the bonus point, they’re just critical.
“Those first three games, we’ve picked up a few of them along the way, so they might only be one point on the given day, but they’re going to be gold come semifinals time.”
In a warm moment, the match was also the comeback game for second-five Josiah Bogileka, who had taken time away to grieve the loss of his young son.
“Just the respect he has, he’s invaluable,” said Hopkins.
“By all admissions, he would probably say he wasn’t at his top, but give him some credit he’s only been back after five weeks.”
What also helped Marist move away from Ngamatapouri was the 100% accuracy of their kickers, as fullback Ashton Coates nailed his attempts both with and against the wind, while young reserve winger Rangi Kui came on to add the final conversion from the sideline.
“[Goalkicking] has been a concern, the last year or so in particular, but when you can bank on that from just about anywhere, it’s pretty reassuring,” said Hopkins.
Both teams would not have been satisfied with their first quarter as Ngamatapouri gave up a string of penalties while Marist missed some touchfinders and made basic fumbles.
However, after centre Pati Leo got a roll-on with a good burst, Marist took a penalty scrum for winger Cajun Teki Botica to attack the line, before the ball came back infield for prop Viki Tofa to twist over the chalk with Hawkes pushing him.
Playing against 14 right on halftime, Marist got another penalty for a quick tap near Ngamatapouri’s tryline, and a pair of floating passes by Tofa and Cummins saw winger Luke Foster collect the ball in one hand and sprint to the corner flag before dashing back towards the posts.
But if Marist were complacent changing ends, Ngamatapouri reminded them how dangerous they can be as Seruwalu made his last hit up from the restart, and then Kubunavanua sliced straight through and around the cover defence to score, although first-five Moihi Waihi missed his second kick to still leave them outside striking distance.
The mistakes, penalties and yellow cards continued, until finally in the 70th minute Marist got on attack with another penalty scrum, and after Bogileka and lock Lake Ah Chong had a crack at the tryline, the ball popped loose and halfback Rory Gudsell crawled through like a grass snake beside the ruck to score.
With under a minute remaining, Bogileka finally delivered on team instructions with a great chip kick into the far corner, as Teki-Botica sprinted up and did well to both claim and plant the pill right in front of the dead ball line.
Marist 28 (V Tofa, L Foster, R Gudsell, C Teki-Botica tries; A Coates 3 con, R Kui con) bt Ngamatapouri 5 (S Kubunavanua try). HT: 14-0.
