May 24, 2021
PAK’n SAVE New Plymouth Old Boys Rugby Club
Greetings all.
For the 7th and final game of the 1st round of competition Old Boys played Inglewood at Vogeltown Park. 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 and controlled possession early and scored a converted try to Daniel Waite after 20minutes. Inglewood hit back with a converted try to tie the scores 7-7 and then scored again and converted to lead 14-7 at the break.
The opening period of the 2nd half was all Inglewood as it controlled the game and extended its lead to 19-7. Old Boys then found its game and scored a try under the posts to Cody Rei that was converted by Daniel Waite to close the score line to 19-14. Old Boys took the lead 21-19 with minutes left on the clock though a try to Donald Brighouse, again converted by Daniel Waite and then defended its line well to record a thrilling victory 21-19.
Old Boys best players were Cody Rei (1 point), Donald Brighouse (2 points) and JJ Pokai (3 points).
With the win and with other results, the Premiers finished the 1st round in second spot on the competition table. For the 2nd round starting on 22nd May the competition points will be halved.
Alsco NPOB Division 1
The Division 1 team wanted to finish the first round strongly and potentially go into the next round sitting on the top of the table if they could get up over a tough Inglewood side. The lads had the added pressure of being filmed with critical commentary by former Taranaki first five Liam “Mr Taranaki” McBride.
Old Boys played the first half into a slight breeze and were often guilty of tackling too high and letting the big Inglewood pack get over the advantage line. There were a lot of mistakes from both sides, but Old Boys managed to score first going to their strike weapon the driving maul. Alex Patterson scored a brilliant solo try cutting through the defence beating 4 tacklers giving Old Boys a 17-5 lead at the halftime break.
Although Old Boys had the support of a slight breeze in the 2nd half they couldn’t string any phases together and spent the majority of the time on defence. Again, it was a messy half with the team suffering a number of injuries to key personnel. Inglewood managed to score 2 quick tries to level the scores at 17-17 with about 10 minutes to play. Old Boys finally managed to hold on to some ball and were awarded a penalty right in front of the posts with Cruz Grace kicking a penalty to put the team up 20-17. Old Boys were deep in their own 22m zone with 2 minutes to play and they tried to ice the game by keeping the ball close and winding down the clock. Unfortunately, they were penalised on the last pick and go with Inglewood having shot at goal virtually in front to tie the game up. However, Inglewood couldn’t convert the penalty allowing Old Boys to claim a 20-17 victory.
Old Boys best players Alex Patterson (1point), James Wilson (2 points) and the fiery Jackson Carrington (3). The team are looking forward to the start of the business end of the competition with a tough first-up game away against Spotswood United.
Pepper Construction NPOB Colts
The Colts were thankful of a large squad as its game against Inglewood was always going to be difficult with 10 players either injured or having other commitments.
For the first 40 minutes of the game Old Boys generally controlled possession and scored some really good tries to lead 19-5 at halftime.
The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half were also promising as back-to-back tries were scored in the space of 2 minutes to give Old Boys a 29-5 lead. However, from there Old Boys did not really respect and hold onto possession and with passes out the back door and pushing passes in bad positions giving Inglewood a constant supply of turnover ball. In this period Inglewood was able to score 3 tries with 2 conversions to get back into the game 29-24. This scoreline frustrated the team but it will learn a valuable lesson of playing in the right areas of the field and showing patience.
In the end Old Boys took a 29-24 win.
Old Boys’ best player was Breyton French who won plenty of line out ball including Inglewood’s and scored a great try when he fielded a kick-off and ran 60m. Dominique Dellow also scored 2 tries using his speed to beat players on the outside.
Junior Club
Saturday was another perfect day for footy. Our man-on-the-bank was fortunate enough to watch our U13 open weight team play Tukapa. The standard of rugby played by both teams was amazing. The game was played simply, and the ball was moved from sideline to sideline at pace. NPOB scored some well worked tries as did Tukapa. It will be great to see these teams develop further.
General
This weekend, 22nd May, the Senior Teams take on Spotswood United at Yarrows Stadium. Game times are:
· Colts 1.00pm (Field 4)
· Division 1 1.00pm (Field 3)
· Premiers 2.45pm (Field 3)
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
Premier
Old Boys Premier 1 team took on NPGHS in the final round of Thursday night Premier 1 grading games in Stratford. Old Boys needed to win or draw the game to retain a place in the Premier 1 grade competition. Once again Old Boys 1st quarter start hurt them as they played catch-up in the first 5 minutes of the game, but the team managed to peg back some goals to draw the quarter 10-10. Old Boys started the 2nd quarter started much better, with tighter defence and cleaner through court play grabbed the momentum to take a 22-15 lead into half time. In the 3rd and 4th quarters Old Boys strung together some swift passing moves, but these were inconsistent and allowed NPGHS to come back eventually drawing the match 43-43.
The Premiers most valuable player was Olivia Bright.
Titans
The Titans had a really tough physical competitive game today against Tukapa’s top team. While Old Boys played well to keep the scores close at the end of each quarter they couldn’t quite get the victory going down 35-32.
Titans most valuable player was Rochelle Bouterey.
Rebelz
The Rebelz had a bottom of the table clash against SHGC 10A, in a game that could have gone either way. The game was fast paced, energetic with loads of action. Unfortunately, while Old Boys were tireless in defence getting some great turnovers and rebounds for their shooters to convert, it was SHGC 10A who grabbed the win 26-25.
Rebelz most valuable player was Rianne van Dillen.
Stars
Another great game for the Stars, with a strong win against NPGHS Snr A2. Old Boys had only 7 players due to injuries and work commitments, but they all played a skilled game through court with some great shooting. The team managed a number of great intercepts and tips, especially on defence which the shooters capitalised on. The girls have easily won all their games in this grading round, so should move up a section for the next round of 5 games. The final score was 46-10 to Old Boys.
The Stars most valuable player was Stevie Broughton.
Social Events
The Rugby Club is planning the following functions over the coming weeks, ie:
| 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
