OBU win Swindale and Harper Lock Shield
It's been a big day for OBU, as their Premier and Premier Reserve sides won their respective competitions- the Swindale and Harper Lock Shield.
Petone are today's other big winners, after sneaking into the Jubilee Cup ahead of Poneke and their Colts winning the Paris Memorial Trophy (Colts Division One) competition.
It's also been a big day for Paremata-Plimmerton with their Colts side securing the JRD Cup (Colts Division Two).
Swindale Shield
Following today's results, we now know the make-up of the second-round Jubilee/Hardham Cup competitions.
The Jubilee Cup will be contested between OBU, Ories, HOBM, Norths, MSP, Wainui, Tawa and Petone.
The Hardham Cup will include Poneke, Upper Hutt Rams, Wellington Axeman, Johnsonville, Avalon and Paremata-Plimmerton.
In an epic match, Lester Maulolo's hat-trick has helped Petone produce a big comeback to beat Upper Hutt 43-32. Petone started the match well, leading 7-0 after an early try. However, the Rams responded with 3 consecutive tries to give them a 24-12 lead at the break.
Petone produced their best in the second-half, scoring two early tries to reduce the Rams lead. The key moment came when Upper Hutt conceded a yellow-card, during which time Petone scored two further tries. Maulolo's final try secured the result for the home side and more importantly- a place in the Jubilee Cup.
In other results, Ories beat Johnsonville 34-19 and Tawa overcame Wainui 24-12. Poneke comfortably beat Paremata-Plimmerton 50-13 and MSP thrashed Wellington 50-3. Finally, HOBM narrowly beat Norths 36-31.
Extended Feature Game: OBU 43- Avalon 10
OBU never looked like losing, they were more effective with ball-in-hand and dominated territory particularly in the second half. Avalon tried hard but simply could not get enough quality ball.
The match got off to a scrappy start, as both struggled for rhythm. OBU were first to score, after a Tomasi Palu line-break led to a try to Sam Reid. The home side continued to convert pressure and scored a second try, after a cutting run by Teegan Minkley allowed Jonathan Fuimaono to crash over near the posts.
Fullback Minkley continued to cause problems for Avalon, after he produced two sharp sidesteps to cut inside the defence and score. Avalon responded with a try just before the break to reduce OBU's lead to 17-5.
OBU were quickest off the mark in the second-half, after a Palu offload gave Regan Verney a clear run to the line.
The home side played smart rugby and spent the majority of the second-half in Avalon's half. Concerted pressure led to a further try, after Jono Ihaka regathered a chip-kick in the corner.
To their credit, Avalon did not give in and scored a well-deserved try mid-way through the second-half. However, OBU were simply too strong and scored two further tries to secure the Swindale Shield.
Harper Lock Shield
In the Premier Reserve competition, OBU have beaten Avalon 61-21 to secure the Harper Lock Shield.
In other results, the Rams beat Petone 23-12; while MSP thrashed Wellington 89-0. Poneke beat Paremata-Plimmerton 29-10; while Tawa beat Wainui 50-8. Finally, Ories beat Johnsonville 58-36 and Norths beat HOBM 24-10.
Colts Competition
Petone have won the Paris Memorial Trophy, which has already been secured prior to today's 32-28 win against Ories. In other results, Tawa beat Norths 45-16 and MSP won against Upper Hutt 33-19. Finally, OBU Green beat Poneke 31-21.
Congratulations to Paremata-Plimmerton, whose 31-15 win against Johnsonville secured them the JRD Cup. In other results, HOBM beat Wainui 17-15.
