Premiers fall to Petone in final
Our Premier Men have fallen to Petone in the Hardham Cup Final in challenging conditions at Hutt Rec.
Played in freezing conditions into a strong southerly, whoever made better use of the wind was going to win the game. Playing with the wind in the first half, MSP got ahead first with two penalties to Logan Love before conceding a try midway through the half. Petone played strongly into the wind controlling most of the territory and possession and preventing the Red Machine get any momentum. MSP took a slim 6-5 lead into the break.
The second half continued similarly with the Villagers controlling most of the ball. They took the lead with an early penalty before MSP had a rare foray into their 22 and Ken Kapeli charged a kick to score a try.
Two more Petone penalties took them back in front at 13-14 where the score stayed until the final 10 minutes. Playing into the strong wind MSP were pinned in their own half for most of the second stanza, they valiantly held the line conceding only another penalty until the 76th minute when Petone scored their only try. A penalty on full time game Petone the game by 13-31.
While a disappointing end to the season, the team will be looking at the positives of finishing fifth in the Swindale Shield amongst a number of injuries. This gave an opportunity for some of our young talent to get Premier experience which will be valuable for next season.
Elsewhere, the Under 85s got their second win in a row beating HOBM by 21-15. The Internationals lost their playoff game to Upper Hutt Rams by 3-14; we're awaiting confirmation of their fixture for the second round of the playoffs. The Colts also lost their playoff match to Upper Hutt by 0-34.
Netball 1 lost to Scots by 28-37, while Netball 2 are still unbeaten in the season beating Nga Mokopuna 2 by 42-12.
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