Upper Clutha are now the only unbeaten team in the Central Otago premier club competition after a convincing 28-14 away win over Wakatipu in a stirring top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.
After a good start, the home side were rocked on their heels when Upper Clutha winger Henry Schikker, who normally plays fullback, nabbed two intercept tries in the first nine minutes.
When Wakatipu failed to clear their line, Upper Clutha fullback Milan Martinovich made a great break, which strong No 12 Oliver Stirling finished, and after Brady Kingan slotted the conversion, suddenly the Wanaka side were up 21-0 after only 17 minutes.
Minutes later, Wakatipu finally responded, loosie Josh Aperahama-Paenganui finishing off a great move he started, and captain Rube Peina adding the points with a sideline conversion.
Upper Clutha, however, restored the 21-point advantage, which they carried into halftime, when Martinovich made something out of nothing to score down the left flank, Kingan adding the difficult conversion.
Wakatipu came out a different side in the second half, dominating possession and territory, but only had a try to diminutive first five Hawaiki Tohu-Gregory, which Peina converted, to show for it, due to Upper Clutha’s suffocating defence.
Upper Clutha coach Alex Dickson said his side had worked all week on putting Wakatipu under pressure with their defence, "and it paid off".
"A point of difference is our defence, and it was the same [the week before against Maniototo]."
Dickson said his best player was probably his captain, lock Lachie Garrick.
Wakatipu coach Jordan Manihera said in the first half, his side "did go away from our shape quite a bit".
But he was delighted his players dug deep and showed their resilience in the second half after they were given "four key focus areas" to nail at halftime.
Already, he couldn’t wait for their second-round clash with Upper Clutha on May 25. And who would bet against the two sides clashing again in the finals in July?
The other two games produced exciting two-point victories, Arrowtown edging out Matakanui Combined 22-20 at Omakau and Maniototo upsetting Cromwell 29-27 at Ranfurly.
Matakanui Combined had the opportunity to force their game into extra time when Rafferty Love scored a late try but Barnaby Dunscombe, who had already slotted five penalty goals, missed the conversion.
The Maniototo-Cromwell game was a thriller with Cromwell ahead 12-10 at halftime and 20-15 with 15 minutes to play.
But tries to Matt Horne and Daniel Adam in the 66th and 75th minutes gave the home side a nine-point buffer, so it did not matter that Cromwell captain Stefan Blakeborough scored in the dying seconds.
With Arrowtown and Maniototo both winning, it means every team in the competition bar Matakanui Combined has registered at least one victory after four rounds.
Front-runners Upper Clutha have a bye next weekend before defending the White Horse Trophy against Arrowtown.
— Philip Chandler
