Cromwell escaped with a 42-30 victory — midfielder Rhys Harrold scoring a try just before the final whistle to extend the margin — but coach Roger Dawson was not a happy man.
‘‘They out-passioned us,’’ Dawson said.
‘‘It was their club day and they played out of their skins.
‘‘There was only one point in it well into the game. They had a heap of belief and we were lucky to escape with a victory.’’
It was again Cromwell super-boot Brayden Laing who got his team home.
Seven days earlier, he contributed 18 of Central Otago’s 23 points in the Topp Cup victory in Balclutha, and on Saturday he converted all six Cromwell tries (one of which he scored), most of them from wide angles.
Laing now has 92 points for the season, 29 more than Upper Clutha captain Oliver Stirling, the competition’s next best.
Dawson was frustrated that his team missed a swag of tackles, which they had not done all season, and made a lot of errors.
‘‘We’ll need to lift our game next weekend against Wakatipu or we won’t be leading the competition any longer.’’
Wakatipu were hugely impressive in downing arch-rivals Arrowtown 28-7 before a large, enthusiastic crowd at Jack Reid Park.
Arrowtown winger Benjamin Walker scored a classy converted try within 90 seconds of kickoff but the next five tries went to Wakatipu, none of which skipper Rube Peina managed to convert.
Peina compensated with a spectacular length-of-the-field try in the final moments of a game that was surprisingly one-sided.
Down 23-7 at halftime, a rearranged Arrowtown lineup threw everything at Wakatipu for the next 10 minutes, but could not once breach the visitors’ defence.
Like Cromwell, Upper Clutha had to work overtime to put away Maniototo 26-13 at Ranfurly, two late tries to Ben Logan and William Scurr clinching victory.
‘‘It was a nailbiter,’’ Upper Clutha coach Mark Evans said.
‘‘Maniototo are an awfully hard team to beat at home. We were fortunate to get those late tries.’’
French prop Maxime Valetin and man of-the-match lock Eamonn Carr were standouts for Upper Clutha, along with fellow tight forward Andrew McKenzie, who has come out of retirement.
Halfback Joshua Cook scored his sixth try of the season, helping Upper Clutha maintain their average of six tries a game.
Upper Clutha will defend the White Horse Cup next Saturday in Wanaka against Alexandra, the only team to beat them in 2025. — Bob Howitt
