League: Disappointing Whalers run aground on West Coast

A depleted Otago Whalers side slipped to another defeat at the hands of the West Coast Chargers in Greymouth on Saturday.

The difficult conditions underfoot certainly had an impact, but the Whalers and Chargers put that aside and got stuck into a tough 80 minute contest.

Otago came out firing and put the Chargers under pressure immediately. Attacking the left hand side of the field turned out to be a good option when centre Tama Apineru fended his way to the line.

Unfortunately for the Whalers, that try represented their only points in the first half, and the Chargers managed four for a 22-4 lead at the break.

The Whalers showed plenty of willingness on defence. Ian Blake led the charge, putting in an impressive performance full of hard hits, and Vila Apuula also showed his defensive presence.

Otago showed promise early in the second half after a rev up from coach Ray Fitiao during the break, and again struck on the left side of the field. Apuula directed the play well and threw a perfect cut out pass to Jordan Tua for a well deserved try.

However, the Chargers were able to wrestle momentum back, keeping the Whalers on defence for the majority of the second half.

West Coast added 10 unanswered points in the second half before Ricky Fife took a good hit up and drew a penalty near the Chargers line just before fulltime. Ben McKerchar took advantage of the opportunity, taking a quick tap and pushing his way through to score a try for the Whalers.

Fitiao was disappointed his side did not play to its potential.

''Our defence was poor at the wrong times and we made too many mistakes and gave away penalties,'' he said.

Blake, McKerchar and Kail Spooner were impressive for the Whalers, Fitiao said.

Otago's next game is against the Tasman Titans in Christchurch.

West Coast Chargers 32
Otago Whalers 14

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