A week after starring for Central Region in the Topp Cup, midfielder Rube Peina scored all 23 points for Wakatipu in their hard-earned 23-7 win over bottom team Matakanui Combined in frigid conditions in Queenstown.
However, it was a good news-bad news outcome for Wakatipu because by scoring only two tries they missed the bonus point, which now leaves them six points adrift of second-placed Alexandra.
Alexandra had no difficulty registering a bonus point, scoring six tries in a comfortable 41-14 victory over a struggling Arrowtown at Molyneux Park.
Three of those tries went to flanker Sam Chapman, a former Fiji under-21 representative, giving him 10 for the season, the most by any individual.
Meanwhile, Frenchman Ulysse Martineau bagged another couple of tries for front-runners Upper Clutha, giving him eight for the season, helping his team come from 10-0 down approaching halftime to win 29-13 at Anderson Park.
Upper Clutha are fortunate to have recruited Martineau after losing fellow winger Welshman Thomas Jarman, who scored a remarkable 16 tries last season.
Until Martineau sprang into action, Upper Clutha could not have performed less like a champion team.
From missing a penalty attempt straight in front of the posts to blowing several potential try-scoring opportunities, the men from Wanaka thoroughly deserved to be on zero after 35 minutes.
Then, amazingly, in the space of eight minutes, leading up to and immediately after halftime, Upper Clutha scored three tries and added a penalty goal and suddenly Cromwell found themselves 22-10 down, and that really was that.
Cromwell desperately needed to win this contest if they were to contend for the top four, but there is now a significant gap between the top four teams and the bottom three.
Matakanui Combined still sit at the bottom of the table but, fresh from a handsome victory over Arrowtown, they proved a worthy opponent for Wakatipu, challenging them at scrum time.
Wakatipu had the slicker backs but handling lapses cost them more tries.
— Bob Howitt
