PREMIER MATCH REPORT PONSONBY PONIES 18 PAKURANGA JAGUARS 16 Andy Stevenson 2, Hiku Jackson tries, Ryan Walton 3 goals Sometimes you get told the game on the weekend will require a big effort. Sometimes you get told that this will be a game that will go a long way to defining how the teams season will pan out. This was a game we were told we will win, no matter what. All we needed was everything we had. If Auckland in mid-July is a cold place, the changing rooms at Ti Rakau Park were even more frigid than outside. Complete with a horror-inspired mural on one of the walls, they were not a very inviting place. Warm up was very much just that, a battle to stay warm before we got on the pitch. Pakuranga organised to be accompanied on to the field by some members of their junior club, of which they are very proud of and rightfully so. The Jaguars had beaten us twice before this season, including a painful loss on Victoria Park, so motivation was high to get some revenge. We needed a good start and got it through some strong defensive set off the kickoff. After we swung onto attack a series of good hit ups from our tireless forwards allowed Ryan to execute some good kicking to pin the Jags down in their in goal. From there we kept the Jags in their own red zone before a good back line option play saw fullback Andy sweep into the line and cross in the right hand corner. Ryan landed the difficult sideline conversion on a day where goal kicking would prove crucial. Another period of dominance saw great forward drives by the likes of Dan, Faagase, Jayde and Luke move the ball up the field. They were ably supported by an inspired selection in the centres of John and Curtis, who took a lot of heat off the forwards by effectively acting as extra second rowers. All this possession had to pay off and Ryan caught the Jags defence napping down the right again with a chip over the top, which Andy recovered. He still had a bit of work to do to get around the fullback but did so easily to dot down under the posts. Again Ryan goaled to make it 12-0. Our tails were up as the offloads began to stick and we took advantage of a slack Jags D to score our next try, this time down the left side. Stu blasted his way through the line after a quick play the ball, drew the fullback and fed winger Hiku, who outpaced the cover defence to score midway between the sideline and posts after a run of about 50 metres. Then controversy as Ryan lined up the conversion, sliding it inside the right hand upright but the touch judges flagged stayed down. The ref disagreed, thankfully, and signalled it a goal making it 18-0, much to the displeasure of the home crowd. The Jags saw the writing was on the wall and sharpened their attack, which up until then had been dogged by mistakes. A few good sets saw them camped on our line for a sustained period and eventually our line cracked on the right side and they went in to open their account. Crucially, the conversion struck the post making it 18-4 at halftime. The message in the sheds was clear: good work but get out there and do it again. The period after halftime hasnt been our strongest point this season and it was again exposed when the Jags bullied their way up the field on the back of some penalties to set up in our red zone again. They crossed under the posts to make it 18-10 and suddenly the Ponies supporters started to bite their nails. The biting got a little more intense a few minutes later when the Jags crossed again after a line break, sparking wild celebrations. The conversion made it 18-16 and the time to dig deep had arrived. A 2 point lead is nothing in the game of Rugby League if you dont have the heart to defend it. However, the desire to win was strong as we mounted a courageous defensive display to grind out the half. It wasnt all plain sailing, though, a very close disallowed try almost snatched the game out of our grasp but the skill of Andy managed to hold the ball away from the turf. The rest of the half was spent tackling like our lives depended on it. The Jags frustration at their inability to crack our line was evident but they threw everything at us anyway. The hooter sounded and arms were raised in celebration of a result that wasnt just desired, but demanded of us. This will go a long way to proving the calibre of a team that wants nothing less than to win this division. We showed we had the passion and courage to get the result yesterday and we want to take those attributes into every game for the rest of the season. Thanks must go to our opposition, who played the game in a very hard, combative style. Kudos to to our referee, who controlled play well. After the game we enjoyed great hospitality up at the Pakuranga clubrooms, with more than a bit of money being put over their bar. Our players of the day points: 1. Winger Brogan Gordon, who moved into the middle of the field on D and did a fine job containing some of their big runners. 2. Winger Hiku Jackson, who had a mountain of work to do returning kicks and scored a crucial try. 3. Fullback Andy Stevenson, scored two tries, came into the line all day and made some telling tackles. Thanks to all our supporters who made the trip down, were looking forward to seeing you all next Saturday against Pukekohe! #UnitedWeStand
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 03:26:02 +0000
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