42 Wairarapa Midweek
Sport
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Good turnout for fishing comp FISHING
Keen fishers were out at Mataikona at the end of April, putting their skills to the test. The fishing event, run by the Mataikona Community Group Committee (MCG), was held on April 21 at Mataikona from Sandy bay to Mataikona river mouth. Sixty-four people registered to fish plus heaps of children whose entry was free, so about 85 people fished the very windy day with no rain. The event was held as a fundraiser by the committee which was started up last year.
United bounce back with big win
The MCG want to acknowledge their sponsors for bringing the event together: Hunting & Fishing Masterton, O2 Dive N Surf, Mitre 10 Mega, Sthil Shop Masterton, Carters Carterton, Carters Masterton, Tumu ITM, Hells Pizza, Farmlands, BNT, Eastwood Motors, 10 O’clock Cookie, King & Henry, Buckhorn, Sargent Motorcycles, Whakataki Hotel, Todd McIlvride/Catch Phrase Promotions, Trade Aid, Take Note, Hedley’s Books, Annapurna Trading, Colour Plus, Life Pharmacy, REPCO, Bonnie & Rob McCormick, PORSE In-Home Childcare, Masterbowl, Regent 3 Cinemas, Avon (from Garry & Nicolle), Elmo’s Books, Jaycar, Tryst on High Carterton, Watson & Son, and Jolleys. Prizes where handed out to the below: Kahawai heaviest 1st Kim O,Neale 2nd Sam Shackleton 3rd Ian Harris Heaviest other species Fabian who caught a monster red cod. Kids prizes Kahawai 1st Lachlan Matthews 2nd Xaviar O’Neil 3rd Charlie Gooding Heaviest other species Stella Gooding
Paul Iÿ ll, player of the match for Wairarapa United. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
FOOTBALL GARY CAFFELL Relief rather than joy was probably the main feeling in the Wairarapa United camp after their 4-1 win over Miramar Rangers in the Central League men’s football match at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday. After suffering hefty defeats to teams they would normally be expected to be beat, Havelock North and Lower Hutt City, at their previous two league appearances Wairarapa United were desperate to avoid a hattrick of losses. And, to their credit, they did it in a manner which gives at least some hope of them battling their way back into title contention as the season progresses. Both teams adopted a positive approach which often saw the teams launching strong counter attacks deep inside their own territory and while the purists would have found the number of turnovers too high for this level of football they did mean that the small crowd was kept thoroughly entertained. The opening stanzas of the first half were all Wairarapa United with a couple of prime scoring opportunities being
created without success in the opening five minutes but the more the half wore on the more Miramar Rangers came into the game, often testing the Wairarapa United defence with their pace on the flanks. However, the closest they came to scoring was when a shot rocketed off the posts and back into play. Wairarapa United, on the other, did have one goal to show for their own first half efforts, Paul Ifill providing the initial thrust before firing a cross which Seule Soromon headed into the back of the net. The second half saw Wairarapa United gain a clear edge in both territory and possession and while there were odd occasions when Miramar Rangers looked dangerous the end result which showed the home team scoring three goals to their opponent’s one was a fair reflection of the merits of the two sides over this period of play. The mercurial Ifill was clearly Wairarapa United’s player of the match. Watching him jink and jive his way past a bevy of defenders just about every time he touched the ball reminded one of his glory days with the Wellington Phoenix and mostly his crosses were inch perfect in their execution. Also making a decent impact for
Wairarapa United on attack was youngster Callan Elliot, who showed just why he is the reckoning for national age group selection. He used his pace to telling effect in several searching runs and demonstrated his fitness by getting through a power of work on defence as well. In midfield Wairarapa United was well served by the diminutive Noah Boyce whose willingness to get involved in one on one confrontation belied his stature while skipper Cameron Lindsay and Daniel Allan were both composed and disciplined at the back. They picked up a number of timely interceptions and Allan, especially, was solid in the air. For goalkeeper Morris this was his first appearance for Wairarapa United since returning from a United States tour with the New Zealand secondary schools squad and he was impressive both with his coolness under pressure and his accurate distribution of possession. In other CL matches played on Saturday Wellington United beat Wellington Olympic 4-0, Lower Hutt City beat Waterside-Karori 1-0 and Stop Out and Western Suburbs played out a scoreless draw.
Rathkeale brave in festival loss RUGBY The first leg of the Hurricanes first XV Festival of Rugby was played at Memorial Park on Saturday and it was Wellington College who perhaps made the biggest statement. Up against the normally powerful Palmerston North Boys High, Wellington College regularly turned their dominance in territory and possession into points on the board, winning by a comprehensive 57-20. Scots College and Gisborne Boy High had a much closer encounter with Scots taking the spoils 31-22 while St Pat’s Silversteam had the edge on Napier Boys, winning 40-22 With Hastings Boys High unable to play in the first leg in this competition which consists of the four top teams in the Wellington premier secondary schools grade last season along with four other highly-rated schools from the Hurricanes region their place was taken by the Rathkeale College first XV. And they put up a brave fight against St Pat’s Wellington before losing 33-17.
WHAT COULD YOU DO WITH A
$500 scholarship? We are now accepting entries for the 2018 scholarships HURRY ENTRIES CLOSE FRIDAY 1 JUNE
The Wairarapa Spor Trust will be grantint Education three scholarships ofg up to coaching of specific $500 for Scholarships will be training costs. at the Wairarapa Timannounced Sports Awards on th es-Age Copthorne Solway Pae 20th June at rk.
Contact wai.sportsed.trust@gmail.com or by private messaging WSET on facebook