April 9, 2021
he 2021 season got underway in sunny and warm conditions at Vogeltown Park on Friday 2nd April with the Senior Teams taking on Spotswood United.
A brief outline of the matches is as follows.
BCD Group NPOB Premier Team
The Premier team got its season underway with a solid victory 54-0 after leading 33-0 at half time with tries to Daniel Waite (2), Mitchell O’Neill (2), Chris Bryan and 4 conversions to Daniel Waite.
In the 2nd half Old Boys had to withstand a concerted period of play by Spotswood and only stout defence kept Spotswood scoreless. In the 2nd half Old Boys managed tries to Jordan Roylance, Fletcher Burnett and Saiasi Qiokata with 3 conversions to Cody Rei.
The team had great support from the Colts team fielding 3 players, Tuterangi Anderson, Fletcher Burnett and Shacaine Enoka who certainly didn’t look out of place at this level.
Old Boys best players were David Stark (1 point), Daniel Waite (2 points) and Deken Rooks (3 points).
Alsco NPOB Division 1
The Division 1 team started its title defence against a strong Spotswood side. Old Boys were missing a few of their frontline players but they were still able to field a very competitive team. Old Boys started off with a slight breeze at their backs and dominated territory and possession for the majority of the first half. Jahmal Hapi scored two great 1st half tries to give them a 15-10 lead going into the break. Old Boys also had the advantage of playing with an extra man as Spotswood was reduced to 14 players at the end of the 1st half after a player was sent off for foul play.
The game see-sawed in the 2nd half and it looked like Spotswood were gaining the ascendancy as the Old Boys pack started to tire and a number of players came off due to injury. However a barnstorming try in the corner to lock Sean Markham and a late penalty by Thomas Landrigan was enough to see Old Boys home 30-27.
Player/coach Matt Harold was inspirational for his side, leading from the front in all facets of the game and deserved the man of the match honours. Young lock Josh Black impressed on debut (2) and Jamahl Hapi (1) was as silky as ever from the back.
The team are excited for their first bus trip of the season to Hawera to take on Southern who they narrowly bet to win the championship last year.
Pepper Construction NPOB Colts
The new coaching group of Ross Lilley and Cullen Murfitt looking after the backs and Mark Luff the forwards has a large squad of 33 players available for the 2021 season. The Colts team had 7 new players on debut.
Spotswood has traditionally been tough opponents and always turn up with big physical players which was the case on Friday. However, on this occasion Spotswood only had 14 players and with no bench with its big ball runners starting to tire Old Boys were able to run in numerous tries to record a resounding victory 65-10.
Players to stand out were Tuterangi Anderson in the forwards and Noah Callaghan in the midfield. Tuterangi after playing 60 minutes for the Colts, also played 60 minutes for the Premier team. Fletcher Burnett who scored a try in the Premier game and along with Shacaine Enoka made their Premier debuts.
This week, 10 April, the senior teams travel to Hawera to take on Southern. Game times are:
· Colts 1.00pm
· Division 1 1.00pm
· Premiers 2.45pm
Other Home games for the round-robin season are:
| Date | Opponent |
| 17 April | Tukapa (Old Timers Day) |
| 08 May | Stratford-Eltham |
| 15 May | Inglewood |
| 29 May | Southern |
| 12 June | Coastal |
| 19 June | Clifton |
