Big winning margins story of day

Alexandra showed a much improved defensive effort but still went down 53-0 to competition leader Wakatipu on Saturday.

Upper Clutha was too good for Arrowtown 48-12, Cromwell accounted for Matakanui Combined 43-10, while Maniototo demolished Clyde Earnscleugh 75-7.

Wakatipu held its top-of-the-table position at Molyneux Park, coming back from  24-0 down at the break. It scored nine tries in the process, against an Alexandra side that improved its defence on the last time these sides played. Tom Ria and Kapa Moeke — in his blazer game — both scored three tries for Wakatipu, Angus MacCallum had two and Josh Murray crossed for one. Matt Ashe and Jamie Natapu added two conversions apiece. The game was called off by agreement with 16 minutes remaining, after what appeared to be a serious neck injury to the Alexandra first five-eighth Rynhard Kruger. Reports are that the injury may not be as bad as first thought.

Upper Clutha stayed a point behind the competition leader, easily accounting for Arrowtown after holding a 33-5 lead at the break. Jack Gilchrist scored a brace of tries while Hamish Cooper, Josh Roberts, Jonathon McNaught, James Downes and Lachie Garrick crossed as well. Cromwell made the trip to Omakau and left with a win over a competitive Matakanui Combined side. The visiting team led 17-0 at the break and had tries to Ethan Molloy, Devon Mathieson, Kane Dodds, Ollie James, Matt Baty and two to George Tiko. Maniototo blew Clyde Earnscleugh off the park, racking up 11 tries to one in the process.

Netball

Molyneux A was pitted against the young Dunstan A team this week, Both teams entered the game unbeaten and appeared evenly matched. Dunstan  claimed the win 34-23. It took the first centre pass break and while a bit shaky on the shot to start, the Dunstan attackers rebounded well and converted those opportunities. Breigh Monaghan shot consistently at 77% for the match, and was smart to create space and options for her feeders. Molyneux defenders struggled to get their hands on the ball, and felt the pressure by forcing ball to their team-mates. Dunstan had a comfortable lead into the first break, 10-5.

Dunstan’s midcourt zone was extremely effective, as Molyneux struggled to break through. With some positional changes, Molyneux started to get more ball to their shooters, but the goals were not falling. Dunstan had a high rebound rate, and any loose ball was snapped up by their defensive duo and converted at the other end. Molyneux appeared to be hanging back and relying on high lobs. These were easily picked and turned over by the Dunstan defenders, Catherine Morris and Amy Johnson, who between them achieved 17 turnover balls.

A halftime score of 18-10 to Dunstan showed the dominance of the youngsters.

In the second half, Molyneux began to play with smoother flow through court, and had more goals through the hoop. But Dunstan never faltered, continuing its patience through court and defensive pressure. Centre Tegan Chapman picked up eight turnovers for the match when the pressure forced balls into the Molyneux midcourt. Cromwell College A had a convincing win over Diamonds 30-21, and Vincent and Roxburgh Area School A had a tight fight, Vincent eventually coming away with a 35-33 win.

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