Erratic Halswell bows out to Wellington club

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 36

Erratic Halswell bows out to Wellington club

Special correspondent Halswell bowed out of the national club rugby league championship yesterday by fumbling its way to a 36-12 loss to Petone in Wellington yesterday. Halswell came out firing hard tackles at the Petone forwards in a torrid opening 10 minutes which saw the referee, Neville Kesha, frantically dishing out penalties. But Halswell did not maintain its aggression as Petone took control slowly. Halswell killed any fightback attempt with poor handling. Petone were quick to pounce on the plentiful loose balls. A lost pass by the Halswell backline one minute before half-time saw Petone stand-off, Geoffrey Tangira, away like the world 100 m record holder, Ben Johnson, over for a try which carried the Wellington side out to 16-0. The Canterbury champion never stopped trying; the second rower, Mark Fraine, spun over for a try in three tackles in the third quarter while a well-worked back movement saw the left wing, Neil Sinclair, race across with less than 10 minutes to play. The Halswell coach, Phil Prescott, was upset his side should bow out with a whimper after promising so much early, though he acknowledged there was only one side in it.

“We thought we were in with a chance but when you make so many basic errors we probably got what we deserved,” Mr Prescott said. “We never held them, we were not in it. There were no ifs and buts. We got what we deserved.” Mr Prescott said Halswell had tried to go out in an aggressive frame to try to put the free-running Petone off its game. The plan worked for the first quarter, with Petone finally breaking through after 19 minutes with a Tangira try under the posts after several minutes of pressure. Halswell still had hopes of fighting its way back when Petone lost' the big second rower, Phillip Henry, to the sin-bin in the' third quarter. Fraine scored while Henry was off after Halswell had had two sets of six tackles inside the Petone quarter. The big prop, Russell Tuuta, lost the ball diving for a try five minutes later, missing the chance of further reducing the gap. Moments Ipter Petone retaliated with a length of the field counter-attack to put the result beyond doubt. The second rowers, Glenn Grut, and Fraine, worked hard while the wings, John Miller and Neil Sinclair, went looking for work for Halswell. It was all they could do if they wanted the ball, the chances of it moving along the chain .were very slim.

In other quarter-final games the Auckland champion, Te Atatu, beat Midlands Pacific, 84-0, with Kiwis Mark Elia and Mark Horo netting seven tries between them while the other Auckland side, Glenora, beat Upper Hutt, 36-18. On Saturday, the Hastings side, Flaxmere Falcons, beat Kaiti Devils, of Gisborne, 22-10. Petone play Te Atatu in Wellington next Sunday in one semi-final while Flaxmere travel to Auckland to take on Glenora. The final will be played as curtain-raiser to the World Cup showdown between Australia and New Zealand on Auckland’s Eden Park on October 9. Flaxmere Falcons (Hastings) 22 (D. Brightwell 2, M. Tihema, S. Foster tries; M. Taurima penalty goal, 2 conversions), Kaiti Devils (Gisborne) 10 (T. Miki 2. tries; T. Teddy conversion). Half-time, 12-4. ■ ? Petone (Wellington) 36 (J. Leuluai 2, G. Tangira 2, W. Tangira, H. Henry, D. Ben Moide tries; B. Russell 2 conversions, A. Hema 2 conversions), Halswell (Canterbury) 12 (N. Sinclair, M. Fraine tries; P. Dunn 2 conversions). Half-time, 16-0. Glenora (Auckland) 36 (P. Bancroft 2, S. Tuwai, S. Saeni, D. Longergan, G. Pocklington tries; Bancroft 6 conversions), Upper Hutt (Wellington) 18 (S. Raika, M. Edwards, M. Madsen tries; P. Griffiths 3 conversions). Half-time, 18-6.

■Te'Atatu (Auckland) 84 (M. Elia 4, M. Horo 3, S. Panapa 2, G. Rayner 2, I. Ropati, P. Ropati, T. O’Shea, G. Higgins tries; O’Shea 10 conversions), Pacific (Midlands)) 0. Half-time, 36-0.