Clutha Valley wins high-scoring game

Clutha’s  Ropeni Fesilafai spots a gap in the Clinton defence and dives over for the first of his...
Clutha’s Ropeni Fesilafai spots a gap in the Clinton defence and dives over for the first of his two tries. Photo: Si West
Clutha Valley found its way back into the winner’s circle, beating Lawrence 44-33 at home, in an open contest.

The Valley side succumbed to two early front row injuries, but was ahead 22-19 at halftime. The forward battle was even but Valley found gaps out wide. The introduction of utility back Max Duncan in the second half gave Valley much needed punch.

He scored twice and set up another to guide his side to victory. Lawrence made plenty of metres up the middle but could not keep the opposition out. Both sides were guilty of missing tackles but Valley’s ability of keeping the ball alive won it the game. Clutha survived a massive scare, overcoming Clinton 29-20 after being down 15-5 at halftime. Clinton used the home advantage to find space in behind the Clutha team early on.

Clutha lost two men to the sin bin in the opening stages which allowed Clinton to open the scoring.

However, Clutha’s strong bench helped it take the win in the second half.Crescent beat Owaka 29-14 in an extremely physical contest at Owaka.

The first half was tightly contested and Crescent went into halftime with a 15-7 lead. The second half was marred by a scuffle, involving plenty of players from both sides. Each team received a yellow card and a player on the bench from Crescent was given a red card for his involvement. Crescent made the most of the scrappy last quarter and made Owaka pay for its poor handling and ball security.

Crescent loose forward Jamie Sutton scored a hat trick of tries and was very industrious.

Owaka centre Chris Chittock scored two tries and was hard to contain.

Heriot took its second win in a row, beating Toko 41-36 in Milton.

Toko was ahead 19-12 at halftime and playing the better rugby.

Its forwards made solid ground and when the backs were given a chance, they flourished. Heriot ground its way back into the game and found plenty of space around the rucks. The Heriot lineout was flawless, giving it solid front-foot ball, its defence held and saw the game out.

Netball

Clutha and Redwyns had a real tussle and the score was close in each quarter.  Redwyns were coming off a big win last week and Clutha, the top of the table after grading, were neck-and-neck after the first quarter, at 6-6.

Redwyns had a strong second quarter, winning it 8-7, but Clutha fought back to take the last two quarters and come away with a 28-26 win.

Clutha’s Bailee Hutton was brilliant at goal shoot with her ability to hold and receive and winning rebounds from missed shots.  Putting her to the test however was the very athletic Redwyns goal keep Nadia Lyders and defence partner Hope Moore.  Equally as good were Kate Sutherland and Paige Win, shooting for Redwyns.  Redwyns with their four young players, three of whom were in last year’s School A team — Dent, Win and Lyders — showed their connections, along with Katie Willocks. The experienced Janine Lyders and Catherine Whitefield were great motivators and could be heard directing their young team-mates when needed.

Clutha centre Gemma Bradfield brought the ball through the court and connected with her fellow players and was able to disrupt the ball in defence.

In other results, Black Gold Sting had a close game against Hillend, beating it 29-23 and School A had its first win of the season against Southern Plumbing, 34-20. 

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