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Round 12 Update

June 29, 2021

Kia ora NPOB whanau

For the 5th game of Round 2 on 17th June, the New Plymouth Old Boys Rugby Club Senior Teams played Clifton in wet and cold conditions at Vogeltown Park.    

A brief outline of the matches played is as follows.

BCD Group NPOB Premier Team

The Premier team entered the match against Clifton looking to take the maximum points and retain its 4th position on the competition ladder. Unfortunately, despite leading at the break 19-12, Old Boys was unable to stay with Clifton going down 31-29 in a tight match.

Clifton got away to an ideal start with a converted try after 7 minutes before Old Boys evened the score 7-5 with an unconverted try to Caleb Mawson. Clifton scored again a few minutes later to extend its lead to 12-5 before Old Boys struck back with a try to Josh Dowsing and conversion to Codey Rei. Old Boys scored again through Rowan Slater converted by Codey Rei to lead 19-12 at half time. 

Josh Dosing scored his 2nd try of the match for Old Boys converted by Codey Rei a few minutes after the break to extend its lead to 26-14. Clifton then stormed back with a penalty try followed by a converted try to lead 28- 26, before Codey Rei kicked a penalty to give Old Boys the lead 29-28. With a few minutes left on the clock Clifton got a controversial penalty in front of the posts which was converted to take the lead 31-29. Clifton then held their nerve to win 31-29.

The result sees the Premiers slip to 5th position on the competition ladder and will need to perform well over the coming weeks to keep its hopes of sneaking into the top 4 of the competition and qualify for the post-round robin play.

Old Boys best players were Rowan Slater (3 points), Mason Milham (2 points) and Perry Lawrence (1 point).

Alsco NPOB Division 1

The Division 1 team headed into Round 12 looking to lock in a semi-final spot with a strong performance against an unpredictable Clifton side. The team haven’t been beaten at Vogeltown Park since 2019 and knew this streak would be put to the test against a considerably larger opposition in abysmal conditions.

Clifton started off with a hiss and a roar and strung together some quality phases, keeping Old Boys bogged down in their own 22m zone for long periods of time. However as shown throughout the year, Old Boys goal line defence is of a premier level, not only keeping Clifton from scoring, but wearing them down and allowing our strong ball carriers to score some brilliant tries from all parts of the field.

Apart from a brief 10-15 minute period full of brain explosions and lazy defence, Old Boys never really looked like losing control of this game, coming up with a 39-26 victory.

Veterans Matt Harold (3 points), Troway Hayes (2 points) and James Wilson (1 point) were the pick of the bunch and showed the young fellas of the team how to operate in the engine room in trying conditions.

The team heads to Stratford next week and welcomes back head coach Caleb Mawson who will be looking to impress the selectors and make his case for the starting XV.

Pepper Construction NPOB Colts

With several heavy downpours on Friday the No. 3 field was always going to be very muddy and wet and this proved the case. Fortunately for both sides the rain eased during the game.

Old Boys were lucky enough to use a reasonable wind in the 1st half. While they did not always play in the right area of the field when they used a good kicking game, they were able to get into the Clifton 22 and scored 3 tries, 2 of which were converted. However, too often Old Boys played a large majority of the 1st half in the middle of the field and in the conditions, it was very difficult to maintain possession.

At halftime there was discussion around playing into the wind and defending for long periods which is exactly what happened. Clifton was able to utilise a kicking game and bearing in mind the length of time Old Boys defended giving them only 1 try was a credit to our defence.

In the end Old Boys won 19 -7.

This week, Old Boys comes up against Stratford Eltham who are unbeaten this season. It looks like the fields in Stratford will be in poor condition so the team planning will be around mistake free footy playing to the conditions. 

Junior Club

Unfortunately, due to the adverse weather, there were no games at Vogeltown Park for the Junior Club.

General

This weekend, 19th June, the Senior Teams travel to Stratford to take on Stratford-Eltham. Please check details for the venues as these may change due to the ground conditions and at this stage the Premiers and Colts will be at Victoria Park and the Division 1’s at Page Street.

Game times are:

·      Colts           1.00pm

·      Division 1     1.00pm

·      Premiers      2.45pm

Netball Club

Premier

This week saw all Premier teams playing Thursday/Friday and Sunday to get a round in before the end of the season.

Game 1: vs Raukura

The Premier team took on Raukura on Thursday night, expecting a hard tough match, but also expecting to take the win but unfortunately things didn’t go their way on the night. Old Boys went away from its game plan of pulling the defence away from its shooters by moving the ball, swinging wide and fakes. Although Old Boys produced some good through court play, they struggled to get clean ball into our attacking circle, putting a lot of pressure on goal shoot Ariki Pullen.

Old Boys didn’t play to its potential and its frustration filtered through as the game progressed. It’s fair to say the team was disappointed with the 33-42 loss knowing that it is a much better side than they showed.

For its part, Raukura played well with their shooters each missing only 4 goals.

The Premiers best player was Emily Mantelow.

Game 2: vs Naumai

It felt really good to turn around its the first-round loss to Naumai to record a great of 14 goal win in this game. Right from the outset the focus was about playing hard to get that elusive “W” while also having fun doing it.

Old Boys had a strong start, scoring off its own centre pass and getting many tips and intercepts through the 1st quarter and was able to get some quick transitions from defence to attack and finish the goal at the other end.

The Premiers played as a team, dominating in all areas of the court. Great balance and linking through the court, with some great feeds from Erika Barr, Kate Baxter and Riria Takarangi. Last year’s Premier player and ring-in for this game, Zoe Kensington, played outstandingly as did Emily Mantelow and Sophie Whiting in the defensive circle.

Congratulations to the Premiers for a well-deserved 48-34 win that advances them to 3rd on the competition table.

The Premiers best player was Sophie Whiting.

Titans

Game 1: vs Spotswood United

The 1st game resulted in a tough day on the court for the team, suffering a 5-goal loss to a very physical Spotswood United Tuahine team. Final score Titans 23-Spotswood 28.

Titans best player was Laura Seed for consistent attacking and dominance.

Game 2: vs Tukapa Rubies

Titans 2nd game of the day was a tough fought out draw against Tukapa Rubies. The final score was Titans 32-Tukapa Rubies 32.

Titans best player was Leigh Laurance.

Rebelz

Rebelz had a fantastic hard-fought win on Saturday against Tysons Netburners and enjoyed their 1st win of the season. The final score was Rebelz 25-Tysons 22.

The Rebelz best player was Rianne van Dillen.

Stars

Game 1: vs Waitara High School Seniors

Game 1 of the weekend was a tough encounter for the Stars and despite some challenges managed to pull off a great 32-31 win. The team can be very proud of its performance in terms of their behaviour and play.

The Stars best player was Kate Delehanty.

Game 2: vs NPGHS 11A

For Game 2 of the weekend the Stars played well with scores tied at half time 16-16. In the 2nd half the Stars pulled in their play and deserved the 36-30 win. Stars played tight on defence and had some lovely intercepts throughout to help towards the win. The shooters worked well, especially as it was their first Saturday playing together.

The Stars best player was Hannah Sutton.

Social Events

The Club held its last social event for the season which was a 60’s night with rocker and singer Bruce Sutton and his band. In his usual manner Sutty entertained the crowd for this event.

The Netball Club’s Bingo Night will be held on Tuesday 29th June at The Good Home bar commencing at 7pm. No booking is required but if you are wanting to eat prior to the Bingo we suggest you come earlier. The Netball Girls will be there from 5.30pm. The 1st Bingo ticket is $10 and additional tickets are only $5 each. Further information is available on the Club’s website www.npobrugby.co.nz or via Facebook.

Lighting Fund

The Club has applied to the Toi Foundation for funding to upgrade the lighting at Vogeltown Park and will also be seeking support from other funding sources. We will monitor progress with the application and update in due course.

The expected final value raised from the raffle will be known within the next few days.

Club Awards

On 19th June the Club welcomed Jimmy Michael Carr as a new Club Life Members. Congratulations and thanks Jimmy for all of your efforts in many roles within the Club over many years.

The Club was also pleased to present awards to Gabe Lauderdale-Smith for 50+ games and Hamish Mitchell for 100+ games for the Premiers. Well done to Gabe and Hamish.

Prizegiving Night

Prizegiving night will be held on Saturday 31st July 2021 with more details to follow

Nga Mihi

Keith and Owen