27-05-2025
Marist goal kicking the difference
In Southland club rugby on Saturday the Eastern Northern Barbarians suffered a disappointing 23-19 loss to a fired-up Marist team at Miller St in Invercargill.
The Barbarians outscored Marist three tries to two but Scott Eade's goal kicking proved to be the difference for Marist.
Marist coach Derek Manson was proud to see how well his team fronted up after a challenging couple of weeks.
"We had plenty to play for, everybody put in a hell of a shift.
"It was a good showing from the Barbarians as well. They were as motivated as we were."
Barbarians hooker Liam Ferguson scored two tries to give the visitors a 12-10 lead at halftime.
Marist built a lead in the second half before Barbarians wing Banuve Dretiverata scored to close the gap to 23-19 late in the game.
Banuve almost scored the match-winner but for a big tackle from Marist's Curtis Tarrant.
In the division one competition on Saturday, the Riversdale-Waikaka Vikings came away from Bluff with three crucial competition points after earning a 29-all draw.
Centre Hayden Stephen was the Vikings best and scored one of his team's four tries.
Lock Jarrod Lindsay and openside Andrew Harrex were two of the other top performers.
Pioneer earned a 25-17 win down at Tokanui.
The heat of the afternoon tested the stamina of both teams.
The only first half points came from a well deserved converted try to Pioneer's Reece Soper.
The second half saw a change of fields when a Pioneer player was injured.
Pioneer patiently put together phases of play, largely through aggressive carries by Khan Wilson and James Matheson.
The Pioneer scrum and lineout operated smoothly
Man of the match was blindside Mitch Hamilton.
Second five-eighth Tane Holland also impressed his followers while captain Damon Hurley led by example from No8.
Edendale beat Te Anau 64-5.
Te Anau travelled down to Edendale with their 22 men and gave it their all.
Edendale's utility player Phillip Brown scored two tries on Saturday to bring his career try-scoring total for Edendale to 100.
No8 Eruera Takurua was the best of the locals, with lock Alex Burgess and left wing Noah Monson also impressive.
There was a big crowd on hand for "Club Day" at Wyndham.
Supporters enjoyed the junior rugby followed by the veterans grade with Albion winning 24-22 over their Wyndham counterparts in the curtain raiser match.
In the main event, Wyndham maintained their unbeaten record in division one by beating Albion 32-20.
Albion fought hard throughout the game.
After a brilliant day of club rugby and socialising, Wyndham halfback Luke Caldwell was named man of the match, midfielder Luke Bryson also excelled in the conditions and scored one of Wyndham's five tries.
Blindside Sam McMillan had a high work-rate, as did his opposite number for Albion, Cole Birse.
Lock Jack Cochrane and wing Macy Scoles also played well for the visitors.
Openside Bradley McFaul played his 100th game for Albion.
The Albion women's team beat the Marist-Midlands combined team 36-17 in Winton on Saturday.
Perhaps the biggest achievement last week by the Queens of Albion was successfully hosting a Pink Ribbon Brunch where they raised almost $2000 for the cause.
Chief organisers were Jamie O'Neill and her team of premier women and the participants from the senior side.
Pioneer women's team was soundly beaten on their home track by the imposing Star team 66-10.
Mataura men lost their division three match 56-22 in Queenstown to Wakatipu's second team.
By John Langford
