Latest news with #Owaka
Scoop
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- Sport
- Scoop
Nelson Rider Basalaj Claims First NZ Title
JUNE 9, 2025: South Islander Bailey Basalaj finally lived the dream at the weekend as he collected his first major New Zealand motorcycling title. The Honda rider from Nelson has been racing at the ultimate level for many years now, and on Sunday he finally broke through to achieve his career-long ambition. He won the opening round of the 2025 Yamaha New Zealand Enduro Championships near Nelson in April, but he was still taking nothing for granted as he headed to round two near Whanganui over the King's Birthday Weekend, barely a week ago. Basalaj managed to win the weekend near Whanganui and, with two outright victories in a row, it set him up for 'a more relaxed third and final round', two back-to-back days of racing, near Martinborough on Saturday and Sunday. Basalaj finished runner-up in the 'sprint' segment of the competition held on Saturday, beaten to the finish by Owaka's Blake Affleck, and it was the same story again the following day, during the more-arduous long-loop phase, with Affleck once more winning ahead of Basalaj. This gave Affleck overall honours for the weekend, but, more importantly, it was enough for Basalaj – with his eventual 1-1-2 scorecard for the series – to wrap up the premier Expert Grade title overall. Second overall for the series was Affleck (with 3-4-1 round results over the series) and New Plymouth's Josh Houghton (2-6-3) completed the Exert Grade podium, while Whangamata's Ethan Jameson (4-3-11) and Amberley's Nathan Hodge (6-5-5) rounded out the top five for 2025. Best of the Intermediate Grade riders at the weekend was Masterton's George Callaghan, followed by Masterton's Dave Edmonds and Tokoroa's Mark Newton. For the series overall it finished with Callaghan on top (with a 2-1-1 score-card over the three rounds), followed by Whanganui pair Grant McKinlay (1-6-5) and Jason Wakeling (0-2-7). Best of the women this season was Stratford's Megan Collins, who finished a highly-creditable fourth overall in the Intermediate Grade. In addition to Yamaha-Motor New Zealand, the 2025 Yamaha NZ Enduro Championships were supported by Motorcycling New Zealand, Tasman Pine Forests Ltd, Macaulay Metals, Best Build Construction, Silver-bullet web site and Kiwi Rider magazine. 2025 Yamaha NZ Enduro Champs calendar: Round 1: April 25-26, Nelson. Day 1, 725 Dovedale Road, Day 2 Moutere Highway, 3.8km west of the Redwood Valley Hall. Round 2: June 1-2, near Whanganui. Round 3: June 7-8, Ruakokoputuna Hall, Martinborough District, South Wairarapa.
Otago Daily Times
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Clutha demolishes Heriot at Club Day
Clutha has well and truly put an exclamation mark on their season in front of a huge crowd at their Club Day in Balclutha. Clutha has beaten Heriot 81-12 in the most one-sided match of the season so far. The first half was a true blur as Clutha ran out to a 34-0 lead midway through the first half with Heriot seemingly left in the changing rooms. Once the visitors managed to make their tackles, hold on to the ball and get through some phases, they scored just before the break to go into halftime 34-5 down. The second half saw Heriot score early before Clutha grew an extra limb and rolled over the top of a tiring and unenthusiastic Heriot side. Clutha winger Junior Meafua helped himself to four tries. Fullback Dallas Kupa-Pickering scored a hat-trick and hit four conversions for a personal tally of 23 points. Toko has held on to their second place position with a dusty 31-27 win over Lawrence at Lawrence. The visitors started the match strongly with some early points before their poor discipline allowed Lawrence back into the match. Toko led 21-12 at halftime but fell away in the second half as the home side piled on the pressure. Lawrence was the better team in the second half, but their goal kicking left a lot to be desired and ultimately that was the difference on the day. Toko scored four tries and converted all of them. Lawrence scored five tries but could only manage to convert one. West Taieri has turned around a halftime deficit to beat Owaka 45-21 in their match played at Outram. Owaka piled the pressure on a West Taieri side who threatened to crumble in the first half. The home side treasured what little possession they had in the first half with two tries but allowed Owaka to lead throughout through poor discipline and a lack of intensity. Owaka led the match 16-14 at halftime. West Taieri started the second half better with two early tries. This gave them confidence and with some calculated substitutions, they finished far better and deserved their win. Owaka could only manage to field 20 players and suffered some early injuries in what was a huge display of ticker from them. Crescent has hammered Clutha Valley 56-28 to lock away the John Cross Cup in their match played at Clydevale. Crescent started well yet again and had two tries chalked up inside the first ten minutes of the match. A first half double by midfield Ethan Edwards and some hard running by centre Jonathan Muagututia saw Crescent lead 36-11 at halftime. The home side started the second half better and opened the scoring before Crescent once again took control. Their bench made a sizable impact and kept the score ticking over as they cruised their way to victory. Fullback Kairus Booth had a huge impact in the match with some fantastic territorial kicking as well as some strong line breaks. By Francis Parker
Otago Daily Times
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Second-half dominance cements winning streak
Clutha maintained their unbeaten streak with a 34-25 win over West Taieri in a Southern Region game at the Balclutha Showgrounds on Saturday. West Taieri flew out of the blocks and were strong in the opening stages of the clash. They rumbled up the middle and found space out wide, where they scored some nice tries. Clutha did not have much possession to attack with but showed glimpses of what they were capable of when they had the ball. A brace of tries each to hooker Luke Moeke and halfback Jackson Reid helped West Taieri go into halftime 25-8 ahead. The second half was dominated by Clutha who, thanks to some impact from the bench, found their stride and held all the cards in the game. Clutha's bench lifted the whole team, and they began to make metres with the ball. Their forwards dominated the collision, and their lineout was a real strike weapon. West Taieri had no answer as the Clutha side steamed to victory. Toko also remain unbeaten after five rounds after a strong 43-27 win over Owaka at Swamp Hen Park. The opening 25 minutes were dominated by Owaka but they could not penetrate the Toko defensive line. On the half-hour mark, with neither side on the scoreboard, Toko scored an opportunistic try against the run of play to open their account. From there, Toko rushed out to a 12-0 lead. Owaka prop Chris Preddy was red-carded midway through the half, but it was the home side who finished the half stronger and led 13-12 at the break. The second half featured Toko capitalising on Owaka's poor discipline and lengthy injury list as the bench was emptied early. Two further yellow cards for Owaka allowed Toko to finish strongly and run away with the game. Defending champions Clutha Valley won their second match in a row as they beat Heriot 41-38 in front of a sizable crowd at Clydevale. The first half belonged to Valley, who demonstrated the skill and ability that has been lacking in recent weeks. Their forwards held on to the ball well and their backs found space. Valley went into halftime 35-10 ahead and full of confidence. Heriot came back into the fight in a big way in the second half. They controlled possession and kept Valley on the back foot for the majority of the half. Two key penalties to Valley goal kicker Ben Smart kept Heriot at bay and in the end, those kicks were crucial as Valley held on to win. Crescent bounced back from their disappointment from last weekend in style. The Coal Miners thrashed Lawrence 56-8 at Simpson Park thanks to an individual haul of 31 points by Kairus Booth. Crescent were dominant in all aspects of the game and rarely gave Lawrence a chance to show their worth. The first half was extremely one-sided before Lawrence finally got a chance to show some attacking brilliance. After a brief attacking period, where they scored their only try, Lawrence ran out of legs and Crescent finished well to retain the Miners Cup. By Francis Parker
Otago Daily Times
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Duck-shooting means round spread over three days
Duck-shooting weekend brings its own challenges for local rugby competitions. The Southern Region competition is spread over three days. Two were being played last night, there is one tonight and the round finishes with a game tomorrow. Friday night in Lawrence sees the home side hosting Clutha Valley with the Miller Cup on the line. Lawrence have not had the best start to their season and are sitting bottom of the table after five rounds. Clutha Valley are on a two-game winning streak after wins over Owaka and Heriot respectively. Lawrence tend to excel under lights at home and will be a tricky prospect in this one. Tomorrow features the annual "duck-shooting derby" between old foes Crescent and Clutha. The Centennial Cup and the Speight's Jug are on the line as well as massive competition points. Crescent are in third position, six points behind Clutha, who have maximum points after five bonus-point wins. There is sure to be a huge crowd in attendance at the Landfill as two big boys of the competition go to war. Last night, Owaka were hosting Heriot, and West Taieri were at home to Toko.
Otago Daily Times
30-04-2025
- Otago Daily Times
President banned after outburst
A South Otago rugby president has been banned from his own club for the rest of the season for an expletive-laced outburst on the sidelines. Crescent Rugby Football Club president Glen Ferguson admits he used nasty language during a game at the Kaitangata Domain a fortnight ago, but denies it was racist. He became incensed by a high tackle he considered dangerous. "One of the Owaka players came in late with a swinging arm and hit him in the head," Mr Ferguson said. "If he had connected it properly, he would have got knocked out, I reckon. "I was in a group of four or five of us and, excuse my language, but I said 'You dirty, mongrel, inbred c...'. "As soon as I said it, I realised I'd mucked up. "It's just like a bit of toothpaste, isn't it? Once it's out, you can't put it back." Mr Ferguson said he apologised for offending but disputed what was written in a complaint, which claimed he said 'Filthy, f...... Samoan inbred". "Well, I didn't say anything of the sort about any race at all." Acting club president Alan Anderson and secretary Nikita Falconer declined to comment when contacted. Mr Ferguson has been the club president for the past nine years and on the committee for 13 years. He started playing for Crescent as a 5-year-old, 55 years ago. He loves the club, but he believes he has been treated poorly. His wife, Debbie Ferguson, a life member of the club, had been subject to online abuse since the committee made the decision to ban him, he claimed. He plans to resign at the Crescent annual meeting later this year. "If that's the way they're going to treat me, well, I just don't want nothing more to do with the place. "Now the wife, she can't even go on to the rugby club Facebook page or anything. "Some of the members are just treating us — like it's not very nice, eh."
