After a convincing victory against Johnsonville we move on to face a formidable Wainuiomata team that gave us a run for our money in our previous match against them. Our match against Wainui would be our last match of the regular season and a bonus point win would mean that we would secure a home semi final match. We surged forward off the energy of our previous matches and performed well in both our training's prior to the game. When it finally came time to play the weather was questionable, because it had been raining all night and we were unsure what the field conditions would be like. The field itself ended up being surprisingly nice even after all the rain and we were excited for the match to start.
Once again I would be starting at lock, and Eoin would be starting at 12 which were not our primary positions but we were fitting into nicely. Off the first kick the ball came right to me and I ran it up the middle, clashing with the opposing forwards and got tackled around the neck. The initial penalty put us in scoring position and allowed us to go up on them quickly. Wainui right off the get go was a strong team, but they were better at talking than they were playing. For the first half it was a tight battle and both teams were giving it their all, but their lack of fitness began to show and we began to take a commanding lead. This game was one of my best games and I was having considerable success with the ball and on defense. In the final 20 minutes of the game our persistent pressure forced a mistake with their kick and when i caught it I was able to break 3 tackles to score my first try at Poneke. We ended up winning 44-8 and after final placements we ended up having to play Wainui again in the semi final match. In that game it was very similar to the first match and we played well to beat them 43-18. In this game Eoin had a spectacular try where he picked the pass while on defense and ran it 60 meters for the try.
This upcoming match will be against Oriental Rongotai, who was the only team so far to beat us so the match will be tightly contested. Eoin and I are excited to continue to prove ourselves and hopefully find success in the finals.
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