Tawa beat Marist St Pat’s in championship decider

Tawa have held on in a nail-biting 2016 bucqi Jubilee Cup final to edge Marist St Pat's 24-20 at Porirua Park.

With four minutes to play Tawa substitute Pati Gaualofa was yellow-carded for repeated infringements, adding drama to the game as MSP found themselves just five metres out from Tawa's line down four points.

However, in what could be a story of their last six Jubilee Cup matches - all victories - Tawa's defence held strong, causing an MSP knock on to secure the 2016 Jubilee Cup.

The win is only the second Jubilee Cup victory in the club's history, with the last coming in 2013, though this championship will be all the sweeter due to Tawa's early-season struggles.

Losing their opening three Jubilee Cup games in 2016, stuck at the bottom of the competition's ladder, an Etuale Togia-led Tawa team overcame the odds to end 2016 as Jubilee Cup champions.

Tawa's left wing Togia was awarded with the Jim Brown medal for Man of the Match, scoring a brace of tries before the rain set in and the match turned into a forward-orientated affair.

Leading Tawa by one point at half time 13-12, MSP surrendered their lead to a rampant spree by Tawa which would prove to be match-winning.

Led by captain TJ Fermanis and his younger brother Hemi, Tawa rumbled their way up the field from inside their own territory before lock Joketani Koroi opened up the play.

Koroi found space in MSP's defence, breaking away on the halfway line, linking up with Togia who beat his defender to start the run from Tawa.

Randall Bishop slotted the conversion to put Tawa in front 19-13 before the decisive blow came just minutes later.

Togia, again influential in Tawa's score, made a run down the left wing and was take down just one metre short of the goal line. Quickly to recycle were the Tawa forwards who worked the ball towards the openside where, a handful of phases later, ex-MSP man Peniasi Tokakece fought his way over to put Tawa up 24-13 - a lead which would prove to be unassailable.

It was an electric start to proceedings with MSP awarded penalty just minutes into the game after hooker Valentine Meachen stripped the ball from Tawa to earn MSP possession and ultimately a penalty.

Fa'atonu Fili's shot at goal was wide to the left but the first score of game didn't take long to come about. Just six minutes into the final, veteran wing Etuale Togia broke down the left flank, linking up with his inside Pepesana Patafilo who used a left foot step to beat Kerrod Foaese and score under the posts.

MSP seemed to respond to Tawa's score in a similar fashion, opening up the play to their backs and their reward didn't take long to come.

Collecting the ball 60 metres out from Tawa's goal line, Ryan Setefano separated Tawa's defensive line and linked up with Isaia Petelo who kicked ahead, pressuring Tawa into conceding a five-metre scrum.

From there, MSP held the ball within their forward pack which saw Matt Peni rumble over the chalk as the score locked up at seven apiece just 14 minutes in.

Sure to make the high-scoring beginning to the game didn't end, Tawa scored six minutes later through the two-try hero Togia. With ruck ball 10-metres out from MSP's line, Togia noticed the lack of defence on the blind side and, from the open side, ran behind the ruck to receive the ball on the blind side and scored to put Tawa back in front.

In what could be Togia's last game in a Tawa jersey, he was immense in the 60 minutes that he spent on the field. A constant threat down his left wing, Togia looked dangerous with every touch of the ball and could well have had three tries had Randall Bishop executed a simple draw and pass mid-way through the second half.

Tawa's discipline hurt them throughout the game, particularly amongst the backline who were caught out several times for being offside, resulting in a pair of Fa'atonui Fili penalty goals which edged MSP ahead 13-12 at half time.

Matt Peni hit-back for MSP in the 69th minute of the match, scoring his second try of the final, but it wasn't enough as MSP fell just short, suffering the same fate as they did in last year's Jubilee Cup final.