Taieri 15
Kaikorai 12
Taieri scored in the final minute to edge Kaikorai 15-12 in a Dunedin premier club tussle at Bishopscourt on Saturday.
But as one disgruntled Kaikorai fan said: ‘‘We’ll get them in the final’’.
And maybe they will.
The game certainly had that quality.
Neither side gave much away. Taieri worked hard for its 8-5 lead at the break.
Fullback Caleb Leef opened the scoring with a penalty in the 20th minute. It was scant reward for all the effort the Eels had put in.
Kaikorai kept finding ways to slip out of trouble. Having absorbed an enormous amount of pressure, the Demons took the lead when prop Philip Taua-Ah Soon crashed over from a lineout drive.
But Taieri snatched the lead back late. Halfback Bob Martin threw a nice skip pass to Josh Whaanga and he strolled through gap on an angled run to the line.
Kaikorai had rushed up and missed its mark.
The second half was every bit as big an arm wrestle except it was Kaikorai that dominated territory and built pressure.
Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa bashed his way over from a 5m scrum to put his side in front 12-8. He has an amazing ability to stay on his feet no matter how many tacklers are on his back.
The Kaikorai forward pack went hunting for another but were thwarted by some tenacious defence and a crucial fumble under the posts.
The Eels finally got some ball in the red zone with three minutes to go and replacement winger Chicayne Giblett slipped over for the winner.
— Adrian Seconi
University 25
Zingari-Richmond 24
Zingari-Richmond collected just a couple of bonus points and that will still be annoying the faithful this morning.
The Colours have a monster pack this season and they put University under a lot of pressure up front at Logan Park.
They owned the scrums and they owned the close exchanges. But University always had someone there to take that last pass.
And, more importantly, they had Jacob Waikari-Jones to kick a late penalty and snatch a dramatic 25-24 win.
University had nursed a 12-5 lead at the break.
Winger Mac Harris and hooker Oahu Davey-Phillips bagged tries for the students, while big Israel Otunuku got across late in the half to cut the gap.
Veteran Zingari-Richmond loose forward Chris Bell scored early in the second half.
Tries to Harris and fullback Jermaine Pepe, who looked dangerous whenever he got some space, established a 12-point buffer for the students.
But Otunuku got over again and replacement back Vijay Kingi scored with five minutes remaining.
Fullback Thomas Johnson banged over a couple of tough conversions to give the Colours a 24-22 lead.
University muscled the ball up the field late and Waikari-Jones nailed that penalty to clinch the win.
Lawrence Leung-Wai had a strong game at lock for Zingari-Richmond but University had the advantage out wide. Pepe and Waikari-Jones presented the most problems.
— Adrian Seconi
Green Island 26
Alhambra-Union 6
Green Island had to dig deep to secure a 26-6 victory over a spirited Alhambra-Union side at Miller Park.
Commitment on defence from both sides made for an error-plagued first half that resulted in an endless procession of turnovers and penalties.
The home side had a wealth of possession but struggled to keep it secure, while AU, which enjoyed a decisive territorial advantage, also struggled with ball retention.
With the first half meandering along and the break looming, Green Island openside Jesse Va'afusuaga burst loose from a breakdown, running 30m before offloading to winger Zion Niha, who ran in from 10m out for the try to secure a 7-3 lead at the break for the home side.
The nature of the game changed little in the third quarter until first five Finn Hurley set the wheels of progress turning for Green Island with a stunning run down the left wing for a try and subsequent sideline conversion.
Hurley then featured with his ability to probe for space, leading to the ball being spun wide for right winger Nelson Yorston to dive over for a try.
While defenders were focused on Hurley, flanker Oliver Haig burst into space soon after to put Va'afusuaga into space and nab the Grizzlies fourth try and a bonus point.
— Wayne Parsons
Dunedin 29
Harbour 27
This was a bizarre game that featured five yellow cards — Dunedin bagging four — as well as concussion injuries, some controversy, and Dunedin finishing the game with two hookers and starting halfback Tim Hogan at first five.
Dunedin started in cruise mode and on the back of a strong scrum had four tries on the board and a 24-3 lead inside 30 minutes.
Then came the first key moment of the game. The Dunedin midfield got it horribly wrong 60m out and Harbour first five Obey Samate toed it the distance to get the Hawks back in the game.
Strangely, Harbour had left some heavyweights on the bench and they came out firing in the second spell. The Pole brothers and lock Siake Kata added size, strength and steel to the pack. The forward contest started to even out and Harbour added three tries to outside backs to grab a three-point lead.
Dunedin’s defence was incredibly committed in this period as it struck card trouble. For one 10-minute period, the Sharks were down to 13.
The second decisive moment came when Dunedin botched an attacking lineout drive but turned the ball over from the resulting scrum, and replacement fullback Kyran Rangitutia went over with four minutes to play to give the Sharks a two-point lead.
Harbour was given another chance when Dunedin was given another yellow but Samate missed from long range.
Dunedin’s front row was immense and loosies Konrad L’iga, Jay Davis and Hame Toma were everywhere.
For Harbour, halfback Nathan Hastie controlled play well and Samate showed a lot of nice touches.
— Paul Dwyer
Results - Round 4
Taieri 15 (Josh Whaanga, Chicayne Giblett tries; Caleb Leef con, pen),
Kaikorai 12 (Philip Taua-Ah Soon, Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa tries; Nic Proffit con).
Halftime: Taieri 8-5.
University 25 (Mac Harris 2, Oahu Davey-Phillips, Jermaine Pepe tries; Jacob Waikari-Jones con, pen),
Zingari-Richmond 24 (Israel Otunuku 2, Chris Bell, Vijay Kingi tries; Thomas Johnson 2 con).
Halftime: University 12-5.
Dunedin 29 (Tylar Diack, Konrad Lotu-I'iga, Oscar Schmidt-Uili, Joe Cooke, Kyan Rangitutia tries; Cameron Burgess 2 con),
Harbour 27 (Obey Samate 2, Willie Tufui, Solomon Pole tries; Samate 2 con, pen).
Halftime: Dunedin 24-10.
Green Island 26 (Zion Niha, Finn Hurley, Nelson Yorston, Jesse Va’afusuaga tries; Hurley 3 con),
Alhambra-Union 6 (Oscar Anderson 2 pen).
Halftime: Green Island 7-3.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | B | Pts | |
| Dunedin | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 185 | 56 | 3 | 19 |
| Taieri | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 126 | 39 | 2 | 18 |
| Kaikorai | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 101 | 55 | 3 | 11 |
| University | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 144 | 108 | 3 | 11 |
| Southern | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 83 | 45 | 2 | 10 |
| G. Island | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 83 | 119 | 1 | 9 |
| Harbour | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 70 | 80 | 5 | 5 |
| Zingari-R | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 107 | 2 | 2 |
| Al-Union | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 251 | 0 | 0 |
