May 13, 2021
For the 6th round of the season on Saturday 08 May 2021, New Plymouth Old Boys Rugby Club played Stratford-Eltham at Vogeltown Park.
The Club was also very pleased to have the opportunity to hold a social event for its Sponsors as a show of appreciation for your support for the Club throughout the year.
All matches were played in fine and warm overhead conditions. A brief outline of the matches played is as follows.
BCD Group NPOB Premier Team
The Premier team got away to a good start via a Daniel Waite penalty which was followed by a try in the corner to Adam Smith, converted by Daniel Waite to push Old Boys ahead 10-3. Old Boys extended its lead to 17-8 with a converted try to Daniel Waite and a penalty to give Old Boys a 20-8 lead at the break.
Stratford came out firing in the 2nd half putting together some good phases and scoring two converted tried to give them the lead. Old Boys continued to get penalised and conceded penalties in kickable positions that were converted by Stratford-Eltham to extend their lead to 28-20. Old Boys then managed to get some possession and a further penalty to Daniel Waite closed the scoreline to 28-23 with 15 minutes left on the clock. Old Boys tried to break the Stratford-Eltham defence repeatedly but turned over possession at the breakdown at crucial times to allow Stratford to relieve pressure. With 8 minutes to play Daniel Waite slotted another penalty to close the score to 28-26 creating a tight and exciting finish to the match. However, a further penalty to Stratford-Eltham allowed the visitors to hold-out for an unlikely but deserved 31-26 victory.
Old Boys best players were Shaan Waite (1 point), Jackson Morgan (2 points) and Michael Loft (3 points).
With this result, the Premiers slip to 4th spot on the competition table.
Alsco NPOB Division 1
The Division 1 side hasn’t lost on home soil since 2019 and were eager to keep the winning streak alive against a tough Stratford-Eltham side. Lacking numbers yet again, the team all knew they were going to have to put in a big shift. Some costly errors and lack of discipline saw Old Boys down 9-0 early in the game, but they soon regained their composure which led to 2 push over tries from the lineout which seemed to energise the entire team.
Old Boys always looked on top, playing expansively and tackling relentlessly, with perhaps their fitness being the only thing standing in the way of a complete performance. In the end Old Boys kept its home winning streak alive with a 41-28 victory.
Old Boys best players were Willie Lane (1 point) up to his old tricks, Troway Hayes (2 points) carrying the ball hard and Cruz Grace (3 points) who was outstanding with the boot.
The team is looking to finish this week with another strong effort so they can head in to Round 2 at the top of the table.
Pepper Construction NPOB Colts
On a perfect day for rugby, Old Boys Colts played the top of the table Stratford-Eltham team in what was an incredibly close game, with the lead changing hands several times. Old Boys led 13-12 going into the last minutes of the game but in the final minutes of the game Stratford-Eltham scored to win 17-13.
Stratford-Eltham had the majority of the possession which meant Old Boys had to defend for long periods of time and it took a while for Old Boys to adjust to the referee decisions. The defensive effort by the team should be applauded in that Stratford-Eltham only scored the one try, all their other points coming from penalties.
Old Boys points came from a well worked try to Dallas Fisher and the boot of Zac Betteridge. Old Boys created a number of quality opportunities to score but were unable to finish them. This is an ongoing focus as they move forward in the season.
Next week will be a tough ask again for the Colts with up to 10 players away against an Inglewood team looking to get their season started.
Junior Club
The Junior’s season got underway on Friday 7th May where the U11s taking on the home side under lights in Inglewood. The U11’s enjoyed the experience and the rugby backed up their excitement. The occasion was a huge success and hopefully more opportunities will follow.
The rest of the teams got underway on Saturday morning 8th May at Vogeltown Park, a day that was perfect for footy and where a big turnout of enthusiastic supporters lined the fields cheering on all the teams. It was great to see our young athletes playing our game again. Congratulations to all involved – keep up the good work.
General
This weekend, 15th May, the Senior Teams take on Inglewood at Vogeltown Park. Game times are:
· Colts 1.00pm
· Division 1 1.00pm
· Premiers 2.45pm
Home games for the remainder of the round-robin season are:
| Date | Opponent |
| 29 May | Southern (Ladies Day) |
| 12 June | Coastal |
| 19 June | Clifton |
Netball Club
Premiers
The Premier team played Stratford-Eltham Rugby Sports Club (SERSC) on Thursday night in Stratford. For the past couple of weeks, Old Boys enjoyed really good participation and a high work rate at trainings and were hopeful of taking this momentum to the game. After the first couple of minutes, it was evident however that Old Boys were up against the odds and fighting an ever-losing battle on the court. SERSC played to the umpires calls and took advantage of their style that was being allowed to be played, which left Old Boys rattled. At times Old Boys had some good flow through the court but lacked consistency and would often fall back to one dimensional play and forcing the ball into the goal circle.
The final score was 52-34 to SERSC.
Old Boys best players were Olivia Bright at wing defence then moving into centre, who was named the Most Valued Player (MVP), with Kate Baxter moving to wing attack.
As a team Old Boys are getting better each week and will be keen to keep building its confidence on the little 1%’ers. Old Boys are looking forward to the start of the competition round next week where they will play SERSC again and hope to turn the tables.
Titans
The Titans team scored a good win against NPGHS Senior A 37-18. Titans came out strongly after the loss last week and managed to contain NPGHS to score only 7 goals in the 2nd half. Old Boys can be proud of their efforts with every player playing their role and giving it everything.
Old Boys best player was Fiona Croot.
Rebelz
Rebez faced a well-oiled and experienced Tukapa Rubies team and despite having its moments of brilliance that the team can be proud of, the Rebelz team was beaten 39-23.
The Rebelz team’s best player was Chantelle Luscombe who had a fantastic game.
Stars
The Stars performed well maintaining a steady lead throughout the game before coming away with a good 36-19 win over IURFC Duzz-All Beeswax Snr B. The team worked well throughout the entire court and stayed strong on defence. The dominant performance allowed the team to play its own game and capitalised on turnovers.
The Stars best player was Riley Grylls.
Social Events
The Club held its first social event of the 2021 season with a function on Saturday night based on a WWF wrestling theme with many team members wearing some interesting/outrageous costumes.
Other functions planned for the remainder of the season are:
| Date | Home Game | Theme |
| 29 May | Southern | Ladies Day/Day at the Races |
| 19 June | Clifton | To be advised |
| 29 June | The Good Home | Netball Bingo |
Updates will be available on the Club’s website www.npobrugby.co.nz or via Facebook.
Lighting Fund
As we mentioned last week the Rugby Club is running a raffle raising funds for upgrade of the flood lighting at Vogeltown Park. Tickets for the raffle are at $100 each. The total number of tickets is 300. The raffle will be drawn at the White House on 12th June. There are number of prizes to be won, ie:
· 1 prize @ $2,500
· 2 prizes @ $1,000 each
· 3 prizes @ $500 each
· 10 prizes @ $250 each
· 20 prizes @ $150 each
If you would like to purchase a ticket, please contact Peter Morrison on 027 948-8838. A bank account has been set up in the event that you would like to deposit the ticket money into the bank. Further details are available from the Club’s website see above.
Cheers
Keith and Owen
