REPORT | WAIHI WIN McCLINCHY

REPORT | WAIHI WIN McCLINCHY
From the soothsayer Tighthead Ted

What a bloody fantastic day for finals footy. Glorious sunshine, and three rip roaring matches before the McClinchy Cup final, which went pretty much as THT predicted it on the Rugby Chat thing with the boys on Friday – Quinn Collard kicking three penalties in the first six minutes to put Paeroa on the back foot before the echo of the opening whistle had stopped echoing off Mt Te Aroha.

There were some other top matches first though, THT arrived early and was wandering through the curtain-raisers, Paeroa U18 and Hauraki Plains U18 were at each other like a couple of young bulls, neither side backing down before the junior Green Machine tool the match 21-13. Running just 30 minutes later was the Senior C final, where the last men standing for Hauraki North beat their old enemies Thames quite comfortably by the 80th minute, 36-14. Good to see old war-horse Rikki Sherrock charging around like one of the under 18 players, leading the way for the young Blue Bulls.

Then the match of the day, Coromandel taking on the might of the COBRAS. Game score this season one each after each side taking a win on their home turf. And what a match, the sun was punishing, minimal wind, and two sides in an arm wrestle for 80 minutes, and 80 minutes it took to separate the sides. After being locked up 8-8 for almost all the second half. Both goal kickers looked like they’d have trouble kicking over a sandcastle, let alone a match winning penalty, I think COBRAS missed three, and Coro’ two before Jordan Olliff landed the one that matters, and an 11-8 win.

The main event then kicked off, after the rousing Coromandel victory haka, and after six minutes, Quinn Collard had slotted three penalties, and Waihi were up 9-0 before Paeroa had held the ball in anger. The Waihi pack was clinical, Taking the ball from kick-offs, going wide for one hit up, which was invariably Dylan Horne in the match of his life, before Collard would pump the ball back into Paeroa territory, where they would concede a penalty, Then the first knockout blow, The ball swung to the right in a threatening attack, before heading back left for Dylan Bellamy to outflank the Paeroa defence and head around under the posts for the matches first meat pie. The regulation conversion to Collard, and with less than eight minutes on the clock, Waihi were 16 nil ahead, with Paeroa maybe having one possession at this stage, it was getting embarrassing.

Paeroa again had a sniff of carrying the ball instead of tackling wave after wave of black and red jerseys, but it was short lived. Waihi were starting to give the ball some width, and a big run from fullback Cam Gerlich, a couple of picks and goes on the line from the fatties, and big prop Matt Pettard crashed over under an avalanche of defenders for Waihi’s second try. Collard must have been getting tired as he missed the conversion, but a 21 to zip lead after 12 minutes and the trophy looked to be heading to the engravers before the first quarter was over.

Thankfully Paeroa are made of sterner stuff than most teams, and as the shell shock of the opening blitzkrieg started to wear off the Green machine started to click into gear, the match started to look like a final again, neither side gaining ascendancy as they traded blows like a couple of heavyweights. Paeroa then broke their downtrou, John Penu scoring down the left after a nice Keanu May-Matefao break. A scoreline of 21-0 became 21-7 after the customary Nathan Emery conversion, and with thirty minutes clicked over, it was finally game on!

The battle continued through the last few minutes of the half, both teams slamming into rucks and mauls with glee, another Collard penalty, but no real try scoring chances being created until in the final moments of the half. Waihi made a break down the left wing, with a try looking on, it took a brutal tackle from Oneone Faafou on Bellamy to prevent the try scoring machine adding to his season’s tally.

The second half got underway, and within five minutes of the orange break being over, Paeroa were back in the hunt, a breakout score to fullback May-Matefao, and at 24-14 with 35 minutes left on the clock, and the wind at their backs, Paeroa were in with a sniff again. That is, until their discipline let them down again, and Collard landed his fifth penalty, 27-14 with thirty to go. Paeroa though, were certainly still in the hunt, but with their lineout again imploding like a supernova on steroids, they were having trouble maintaining enough pressure to break the Waihi defence.

With just over ten on the clock, Waihi finally put the match beyond doubt. After a good build up with some tough ball carrying from the Waihi pack, Paeroa finally cracked and Dylan Rangi dotted down in the corner. No conversion from Mr Boot, but at 32-14 with time almost up, it was now game over but for pride. Paeroa pulled back one more trym and with eight on the clock, 32-19 the score, two converted tries could steal the game. We all know it was not to be, and man of the moment, Quinn Collard had the final say. Paeroa were hammering on the Waihi line, before after about a billion phases, they knocked it on. Defensive scrum, and a clearing kick from behind his line by Ethan Seymour saw a nasty bounce for the Paeroa fullback, and the kick regathered by Seymour. He fed the old campaigner Brett Ranga, who found Collard on his outside, and 102 metres from the kick, an exclamation mark was put on the win, a try to Collard and a 37-19.

Dylan Horne led the way for the Waihi pack, who stood up and subdued the Paeroa eight. He carried like a hungover Viking berserker upset about being woken up after a night on the juice and tackled himself to a standstill. Axten’s and Ranga were not far behind in effort and effect, and prop Te Huia Kuta had his best game for Waihi. Big Matty Petard and Brad Nightingale were tigers in the tight, and as per usual Kenan Gilson tackled anything that moved, stifling many a promising Paeroa attack. Isaac Seiuli at number was not quite as prominent in the open, but his hard carries in the close quarter combat saw Paeroa put on the back foot more often than not.
Not a great game for the outside backs, but Cam Gerlich at fullback had some big runs, and the midfield of Dylan Bower and Kahu Craig-Ranga contained the dangerous Paeroa midfield. Collard at ten though was the king pin, racking kicks, and a personal tally of 22 points on the day a fine reward for a great season.

Paeroa was found wanting in the discipline front, and punished early via Collard’s boot taking those chances. In the first spell it was hard for anyone to stand out, Oneone Faa Fou and Hendrix Beazley tried to spark things up, but often lacked support. Fullback May-Matefao and John Penu combined well and proved a handful at times for Waihi. Overall though, the Green Machine was not allowed to get on a roll, and their lineout let them down.

Man of the match, THT hasn’t picked many of these this season, actually none, but it would have to go to Horne, huge effort, he must have had the Valley selectors putting a few ticks by his name as the match wore on. Collard too gets a nod, but he wears two digits on his back, so single digit always trumps that, the lower the digit the better.

Waihi 37 (D Bellamy, M Pettard, D Rangi, Q Collard tries; Collard conversion, 5 penalties) beat Paeroa 19 (K May-Matefao 2, J Penu tries; N Emery 2 conversions).
And that’s a wrap team, catch you next year, THT, over and out.