North Canterbury News: July 20, 2023

SPORT
The North Canterbury News, July 20, 2023
29
THIS WEEKS
S
DRAW 2023 rugby
Slicing through ... Glenmark­Cheviot mid­fielder, Mike Keane, slices through the Oxford defence to help his team
to adecisive win.
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
NC semi-finalists found
RUGBY
Glenmark­Cheviot’s hotform
continuedinthe North
Canterbury senior rugby
competition on Saturday,earning
ahomesemifinalfollowing an
emphatic 65­5defeatofOxford.
Saracensrecentrun of mixed
performances continuedandwas
denied asemi final spot after
goingdown 10­20 to Ohoka.
In spite of adisappointing10­43
loss to Kaiapoi, Hurunui remains
aheadofSaracens on thetable,
andwill face thedauntingtask of
playing Glenmark­Cheviot at
home inone semifinal.
Kaiapoi’s semi final will be
against Ashley,who swept by
Woodend 61­12, in its last game of
theseason.
Finalroundrobin points:
Glenmark­Cheviot35, Kaiapoi27,
Ashley 24,Hurunui19, Saracens
17,Ohoka16, Oxford5,Woodend 0.
Kaiapoi vHurunui
Kaiapoi turned on afantasticday
weather wiseand their team
replicated thiswiththeir
performancebeatingHurunui
43­10.
In what wasamustwin game for
both teams, Kaiapoihadthe lionshareofpossessionand
territory.
Thefirst20minuteswas untidy
andKaiapoiwasunable to
capitaliseonthe chances it
created.
But it seemedlike justamatter
of timebefore it clicked.
Thescoring openedwitha
Taine Jacobs­Lawson penalty
goal,which wasquickly followed
by thefirsttry of thegame.
Lock, Bailey Counihanwas at
theback of arolling maul and
went overtoscore. Jacobs­Lawson
converted.
This sparkedsomeenterprising
play from thehomesidewhich
started making line breaks and
pinning Hurunui deep in its half.
Jacobs­Lawson was next on the
score sheetwhenhefollowed up
hisownchip, and chase,and dived
over.
He converted his owntry,and
when fullback LanceTaylor
finished offaniceattacking move
to score on half time,Kaiapoishot
outtoa22­0lead.
Hurunui wasunabletomake
much headwayand couldn’t getits
handsonthe ball forlongperiods
of thegame.
As thesecond halfstarted,
Kaiapoi was determined to score
first,and they didwhenhooker
Kafu Misuiata peeledoff theback
of therollingmaul tosteamover
theline.
The trywas converted and was
shortly followed by secondfive
Dante Love,scoopingupaloose
pass fromHurunui to runover
untouched.
The trywas converted and
Kaiapoi led36­0.
Hurunui finally managed to
cross thechalkfromasustained
periodofplay, and was able to
enjoy some time withthe ball.
It was shortlivedthough as
Kaiapoi wouldbethe next team to
score whenagoodbuild­up
resulted in opensideflankerSid
Coster diving over,with Jacobs­
Lawsoncontinuinghis fine
displayoff theboot and
converting.
Thelast score would go to
Hurunui who right on full timeput
adeft kickthrough whichresulted
in aspectacularfinishinthe
corner.
In whatcould beconsideredone
of Kaiapoi’s bestgamesofthe
season, they willbevery happy
with therugbythey are playing at
this timeofthe year.
They havenow booked
themselves ahomesemi­final
against rivals Ashley andyou
won’twanttomissit.
Playerstostandout for Kaiapoi
werehooker, Kafu Misuiata, First
five, TaineJacobs­Lawson and
flankerSid Coster.
Kaiapoi 43 TaineJacobs­Lawson,
Bailey Counihan,LanceTaylor,
Kafu Misuiata, DanteLove,Sid
Coster;Jacobs­Lawson 1penalty
and 5conversions.
Glenmark­Cheviot v
Oxford
Therewas no lack of motivation
for theGlenmark­Cheviotboys to
bring their AgametoOxford,
beingthelastgameoftheyear,
and the opportunity to lock away
the Deansshieldfor thesummer.
But achallengingfirst 20
minutes, where Oxford retained
possession,threwthe ballfrom
sidetoside, and ran the ball from
anywhere,was whatwas
encountered in asurprisingly
sunny Saturday onafirmtrack —
something notexperiencedfor a
few weeks.
Once Glenmark­Cheviotwas
abletogethands on the ball,and
stringsome phases together, the
points stated to flowwith amix of
quick hands to the outsides, plus
someforward rumbling.
By half timeGlenmark­Cheviot
had already runin5tries.
Thesecond half startedwith
similarflairfromboth teams.
Tries comingfrombroken play
and making the most of
opportunities and space.
Oxford was rewarded with a
welltaken trytoNo8 Jesse
Houston.
Four moresecond half tries to
Glenmark­Cheviotfromamixture
ofsetpiece, andopenplay,blew
the scoreout to 65­5 at full time.
In theforwards Tom Blyth hada
strong game in thetight,while
Nick Hydefound space on the
wing foracoupleofwelltaken
tries.
In in thebacks,MikeKeane was
animpenetrablewallondefence
andSeijun Kawasaki wasatreat
out widewhengive space to
stretch hislegs.
Glenmark­Cheviot 65 NHyde 2, H
Allen, HGibb, J Vincent, C
Harnett, GJensen, SKawasaki 2
tries. KYamasawa 2conv,S
Kawasaki3conv beat Oxford 5
Jesse Houston atry.
Ashley vWoodend
Bitofaone sided affair with
Ashley pack dominant at set piece
andeventuallywinning 61­12.
Woodend’stwo tries were good
trieswith thesecondbeing awell
worked lengthoffield run from
their No 4.
After initially going tryfortry in
first 10 or so minutes Ashley took
over all thescoring, anditwas one
sided after that.
Woodend toiledawayuntil the
endofthegamefor no reward.
ForAshley Matt Peak at lock,
Mika Felixatprop, James
Anderson and Nick Sim all
featured onthe score boardwith
strong games, whileNathan
Emerykickedeightgoals from
nine attempts.
ContinuedPage 30
Division1Combined: 2.45pm kick off
GlenmarkCheviot vs Hurunui, Omihi 1
Kaiapoi vs Ashley, KaiapoiOval
SaracensvsOhoka, Southbrook 1
OxfordvsWoodend, OxfordOval
Division 2: 1.00pm kick off
Ohoka vs Kaiapoi, Mandeville1
HurunuivsAmberley, Culverden 2
OxfordvsGlenmark Cheviot, Oxford Oval
2.00pm KaikouravsAshley, TBA
Colts: 1.00pmkick off
Ohoka vs Hurunui, Mandeville 2
Ashley BYE
Womens: 1.00pm kick off
Kaiapoi vs HSOBGrizzlies, Kaiapoi1
Miles Toyota Championship: kick off 12.00pm
MCC AshHutt1st XV vs RHS 1st XV, Ashburton Celtic2
Under18: 12.00pm kick off
11.30pm Prebbleton vs RHS 2nd XV, PrebbletonDomain1
Leeston vs Kaiapoi, LeestonPark 1
OxfordvsTemuka, OxfordOval
Under16: 12.00pm kick off
Lincoln vs Kaiapoi, Lincoln Domain 3
Under14.5: 11.30am kick off
MCRSU Alps vs RHS Gold, Hampstead 1
MCRSUPlains vs RHS Green, Ashburton Celtic 1
Woodend vs Rolleston College, GladtsoneDomain 1
12.30pm Hurunui vs Lincoln, Culverden 1
1.30pm KaikouravsWest Melton, KaikouraRFC 1
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