Otahuhu College dominated Papakura High School as Auckland's College Rugby League Premier First XIII Competition entered its second phase this week.
Here's a report from www.aucklandleague.co.nz focusing on the match of the round between the two South Auckland schools:
It shaped as a tight contest between two schools tied on points at the end of pool play but one of them had other ideas at Otahuhu College on Wednesday.
Papakura had lost a host of players just prior to kick-off but didn’t let that affect the way it started, scoring first through centre Brodie Boyce.
Fullback Tipene Turiranga converted to take his side out to a 6-0 lead after five minutes.
The home side was quick to reply with prop Ilola Oneone striding 60 metres to score under the posts.
A spate of Papakura errors allowed Otahuhu to cross for three more tries in rapid succession, with fleet-footed centre Alfred Smalley, interchange player Jamel Hunt and back-rower Brandon Nangaiti all going over.
Sitting on a 22-6 lead at the break, Otahuhu was completely in control, but a slow start to the second stanza meant it conceded first.
Back-to-back sets saw Papakura wear its opponent down with hooker Justin Wave dotting down to get the margin back to 22-12.
Dreams of a comeback failed to materialise, Otahuhu instead running in further tries to Nangaiti, who collected a double, David Pala and Aviata Tanielu to blow the margin out.
The final score of 40-18 made ugly reading for Papakura with a late consolation try doing nothing to improve its mood.
Papakura will be sweating on the fitness of star playmaker Arthur Crichton and a host of other experienced players looking ahead to next week.
WRAP OF THE REST
There are no guarantees in this year’s SAS College Rugby League.
Mt Albert Grammar proved that last week with an upset victory over St Paul’s College and Western Springs reinforced it with a 22-16 win against 2013 runner-up Kelston Boys' High School seven days later.
Kelston dominated much of the game, scoring four tires, compared to Western Springs College's three.
Goal kicking was the difference, though, with Nikora Ngaropo kicking three from three for Springs while Kelston failed to convert a single attempt.
Staying out west, competition newcomer Massey High School pushed Henderson High School all the way before eventually going down 20-14 in the local derby.
The Challenge Cup was up for grabs at Mt Albert Grammar with the holder hosting Tangaroa College. In a tight affair it was the strong running game of prop Junior Lisone, younger brother of Vodafone Junior Warrior Sam Lisone which kept Tangaroa in the contest.
In the end Mt Albert proved too strong, making the most of the impact offered by Sydney Roosters-signed second-rower Rueben Porter to win 20-14.
Westlake cruised to a 34-0 victory over Auckland Seventh-day Adventist, while St Paul’s bounced back from last week’s loss to record a comprehensive 32-0 win over Aorere.
A hat-trick of tries by hooker Iese Aiga helped Papatoetoe run out 34-4 winners over Lynfield, and Southern Cross got the better of James Cook, victorious by 24-16.
Out at Manurewa the home side claimed a 30-0 win to continue its excellent start to 2014, while Pakuranga took care of Mt Roskill 34-14.
FULL RESULTS
Westlake 34, Auckland Seventh-day Adventist 0. HT: 28-0.
Henderson 20, Massey 14. HT: 10-8.
Kelston 16 Western Springs 22. HT: 12-4.
Mt Albert 20, Tangaroa 14. HT: 16-10.
Aorere 0, St Paul’s 32. HT: 22-0.
Pakuranga 34, Mt Roskill 14. HT: 16-10.
Papatoetoe 34, Lynfield 4. HT: 22-0.
Otahuhu 40, Papakura 18. HT: 22-6.
Southern Cross 24, James Cook 16. HT: 10-10.
Manurewa 30, Sir Edmund Hillary 0. HT: 30-0.
