A second half recovery by Varsity A almost toppled the table top Taieri in Dunedin club rugby today.
Taieri dominated the first spell and led the game at the University Oval 24-5 at the break. But the students came back firing and scored four tries in the second spell to lose by only three points 32-29.
In the end it was the accurate goal kicking of Taieri hooker Henry Parker that made the difference.
Taieri lead the Gallaway Trophy competition with 55 points and are followed by Southern 52, University A 39, Dunedin 37, Alhambra-Union 36, Kaikorai and Harbour 32, Zingari-Richmond 23, Pirates 5, Green Island 0.
Southern had too many guns and won back the Ron Reggett Trophy when they downed Dunedin 29-20 at Bathgate Park.
Harbour spiked Alhambra-Union when they beat them 27-13 at the North Ground. Kaikorai got back into winning mode when they beat Green Island 38-11 at the North Ground.
Lock Joe Latta played a key role when Zingari-Richmond beat Pirates 34-10 at Hancock Park to gain their fourth win of the season.
SOUTHERN...................................................29
DUNEDIN......................................................20
TAIERI.........................................................32
UNIVERSITY A............................................ 29
Taieri 32 (Kori Rupene, Willis Scott, Nick McLennan 2 tries; Henry Parker 3 con, 2 pen), University A 29 (Gavin Stark, Matt Faddes, Fletcher Smith, Jack Wolfreys, Angus Cameron tries; Smith 2 con). Halftime: Taieri 24-5.
HARBOUR...................................................27
ALHAMBRA-UNION.....................................13
Harbour 27 (Mateo Malupo, Seilala Mapusua, Hale T-Pole, Sione Misiloi tries; Ollie Cuthill 2 con, pen), Alhambra-Union 13 (Colin Davies. Tom Viggo tries; Viggo pen). Halftime: Harbour 20-8.
ZINGARI-RICHMOND.....................................34
PIRATES.........................................................10
Zingari-Richmond 34 (Nick Loan, Josh Botting, Chris Bell, Joe Latta, Chris Preddy tries; Shaun Driver con, pen; Christian Walker 2 con), Pirates 10 (Solomon T-Pole try; Craig Sneddon con, pen). Halftime: Zingari 15-3.
KAIKORAI.....................................................38
GREEN ISLAND...............................................11
Kaikorai 38 (Shane Calder 2, George Hendry, Danny van der Voort, Cam Rutherford, Nathan Hull tries; Cam Rutherford 4 con), Green Island 11 (Lausei Pritchard try; Shane McNoe pen, Hayden McBride pen). Halftime: 10-6 Kaikorai.
