Tasman women lose see-sawing opener

JACK MALCOLM AND PETER JONES

The Tasman Mako women’s rugby team kicked off their Farah Palmer Cup championship campaign in Nelson on Saturday evening with a narrow defeat to Otago.

In a game that saw the lead change six times, the Mako were left to rue lost opportunities as they went down 34-28 in an entertaining clash.

With the Mako hot on attack for the final play of the game, a grubber kick into the corner failed to pay dividends, leaving the local side to reflect on a match they could have won.

After soaking up early pressure, the Mako struck first.

After earning a turnover from a gang tackle in midfield that drove Otago back over 15 metres, the local side steadily marched the ball down the field before prop Manaia Ashley Ulutupu barrelled over.

However, Otago replied quickly, creating an overlap for their first try, then winger Jamie Church adding her second in the space of four minutes.

Tasman looked to have secured a halftime lead as midfielder Chloe

Dixon scored with a minute on the clock, however, less than 60 seconds later she was shown the second of the game’s four yellow cards, allowing Otago to boot a penalty and take a 15-13 lead into the sheds.

Otago scored first in the second spell, before two tries the home side pro pelled them to a fivepoint lead. Again, Otago replied with a converted try to retake the lead, only for Mako first five Cassie Siataga to slot a 40-metre penalty, handing the home side a one-point advantage with four minutes to play.

But Otago had the final say, finding Tasman understaffed on the blindside as they ran in the winning try.

Mako captain Tamara Silcock says while it wasn’t the result they were looking for, they were still “stoked” with the performance.

“In the past it’s been a bit of a blow out so it’s a pretty good start to the season regardless of the points shown.”

She says the energy of the team this season is on another level, with the passing of their former coach Billy Guyton a big reason for their growing comraderie as a squad.

“All our games this year are for Billy. He’s still part of our team. We’ve got him on our jersey so we’ve got a lot of pride in our jer-

Premier netballers back in action

Peter Jones

A couple of weeks off did nothing to curb the enthusiasm of Marlborough’s premier netballers, who kicked off the final round of competition on Tuesday evening with three eagerly-contested matches at Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000.

There was some rust after a fortnight’s break, but three competitive games ensued, the highlight being a ding-dong battle between Pelorus Gill Construction and Tokomaru in the first game of the evening.

Pelorus eventually came away with a 61-58 victory in a clash whose result was in doubt until the final minutes when, with the scores tied, Pelorus went on a 6-2 run to wrap up an entertaining opener.

The evening’s other matches were more predictable, although the Harlequins club derby between Fairweathers and unbeaten first round winners Indevin had an unexpected opening.

Fairweathers began as if they had been practising hard during the break, leading their favoured rivals 11-8 into the first break, before Indevin recovered their composure to prevail 50-31. The evening’s third match saw MGC take on Pelorus Edridge Contracting, the students coming up well short, dropping all four quarters to go down 61-36.

Scores: Pelorus Gill Construction 61 (Liv Pinkerton 10/13, Kate Gaudin 39/41, Karli Murphy 12/16) Tokomaru Crafar Crouch 58 (Naomi Fowler 21/22, Gemma Hika 31/32, Kayla Wilson 6/7. Quarter scores (winning team first): 16-13, 18-16, 11-18, 16-11.

Pelorus Edridge Contracting 61 (Paige Lovell 40/54, Megan Cos- grove 21/24) Marlborough Girls’ College 36 (Anel Moli 16/25, Hazel Glover 20/27). Quarter scores: 18-9, 15-11, 12-7, 16-9.

Harlequins Indevin 50 (Lauren Murray 37/51, Ramona Waikato

7/10, Kayla Collins 6/9) Harle quins Fairweathers 31 (Jorja Bacchus 11/13, Sophie Ridley-Scott 20/25). Quarter scores: 8-11, 17-6, 14-6, 11-8. Points after week one of round two: Harlequins Indevin

3, Pelorus Edridge Contracting sey this year. It’s going to be a very emotional season.”

Scores: Mako 28 (Manaia Ashley Ulutupu, Fiaalii Solomona, Chloe Dixon, Sui Pauaraisa tries; Cassie Siataga con, 2 pen) Otago 34 (Tegan Hollows, Pesalini Lave-Heehau, Oceana Campbell, Jamie Church 2 tries; Georgia Cormick 3 con, 1 pen). HT: 15-13 Otago.