Goats far too strong for Cavs

Goats winger Devon Mathieson runs in the first of his two tries at Cromwell's Anderson Park on...
Goats winger Devon Mathieson runs in the first of his two tries at Cromwell's Anderson Park on Saturday. The Goats hammered the Cavaliers 65-5. PHOTO: ADAM BURNS
It pretty much went to script in the Cromwell derby as the Goats piled on the points in Central Otago premier club competition action.

The Goats ran in 11 tries at Anderson Park as they crushed the hapless Cavaliers 65-5.

Considering their earlier meeting which was a 95-point tryfest and the lopsided form of both sides, points were an inevitability.

The Goats clinched the White Horse Cup a fortnight ago and are proving a potent force out wide as they top the competition's try-scoring tally.

The Cavaliers have conceded a whopping 138 points in their past two games.

Sterner challenges await in the coming weeks and the Goats did not have it all their own way for periods of the game.

However, this encounter was done as a contest by halftime and the Goats are building up a good head of steam with the playoffs three weeks away.

It was a scrappy opening quarter for the Goats as spilled passes and ill-discipline at the breakdown thwarted their momentum.

Their scrum, however, commanded proceedings and had the Cavaliers back-pedalling at a rate of knots.

It took until the 20th minute for the Goats to get on the board when No8 and captain Stefan Blakeborough pulled away around the blind and crashed over in the corner, following another dominant scrum.

Five minutes later, Goats second five-eighth Andrew Katene scored 10m in from touch as the side's outside backs began to operate with ample space.

A one-two-three punch before halftime took the Goats out to 29-0 and it was all over as the Goats punished the mistakes beginning to creep into the Cavaliers' game.

It did not get much better for the Cavs after the break.

Unforced errors and missed tackles had them under the pump as the gulf in class became more pronounced.

Three tries in 10 minutes after halftime and it was ticking over at close to a point a minute at 48-0.

For all their enterprise out wide, the Cavaliers were overwhelmed in the engine room and did not compete with nearly enough ball or territory to fire a shot.

They showed fight in the final stages and managed to dot down in the shadows of full time.

With a first-half brace, Blakeborough was immense throughout both with ball in hand and at the breakdown, despite being sent to the bin in the 64th minute.

Also among the tries were openside flanker Danny Russell and winger Devon Mathieson, both scoring doubles in a fruitful day for the Goats.

In Ranfurly, a 78th-minute penalty by Maniototo first five-eighth Daniel Adam gave the home side a crucial 22-20 win over Arrowtown, which makes the run to the playoffs a compelling prospect.

It does not get any easier for Arrowtown in the next fortnight with Upper Clutha and the Goats their final regular-season match-ups.

Top-of-the-table Upper Clutha continued to present its title credentials, trouncing Alexandra 43-7 in Wanaka.

The Rams have a three-point lead atop the points ladder ahead of the Goats on 49 points.

That leaves Arrowtown, Wakatipu, Maniototo and Alexandra to battle it out over the next two rounds for the final two playoff spots.

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