Was it Cromwell Goats putting 60 points and nine tries on Wakatipu, or Matakanui-Combined registering its first victory since reinventing itself this season?
Wakatipu, coming off an impressive performance against Arrowtown, was expected to challenge strongly for the White Horse Cup at Anderson Park.
But after dominating the opening 20 minutes, and leading 5-0, the contest became a rout.
The damage was done in the second quarter when the Goats used their giant forwards, most notably props Alex Chubb and Jake Hansen, lock Stefan Blakeborough and loosies Asivorosi Serukalou and Daniel Hurring to pound Wakatipu into submission.
As Wakatipu started to fall off tackles and make handling mistakes, the Goats went on the rampage, going from 0-5 to 19-5 in 11 minutes.
After halftime, it was pretty much all one-way traffic.
With halfback Ben Maxwell directing operations superbly, Hayden Todd, in his 101st outing, pretty much unstoppable in the centres, and fullback Warwick Cheney the consummate finisher, the Goats rocketed from 22-12 at halftime to 53-19 with 15 minutes still to play.
Wakatipu benefited from Cromwell emptying its reserve bench to score two late converted tries. Its standout player was winger Luke Holden.
Given an unusual draw, it is hard to see the White Horse Trophy moving away from Cromwell this season.
The Goats will play three of their next four matches away from home, including the big one against Arrowtown next Saturday, and their only remaining home fixtures are against strugglers Cromwell Cavaliers and Maniototo.
Matakanui-Combined’s faithful followers are all happiness following the team’s thrilling 16-15 win over Alexandra at Molyneux Park, which followed a first-up draw against Maniototo.
The club was in despair in 2019, after withdrawing from the premier competition through lack of players.
But thanks to players moving into Omakau region during and after the Covid-19 lockdown, the team has a premier squad of close to 30 players, including American prop Jacob Lunsford.
Matakanui-Combined trailed 11-15 late into Saturday’s game and turned down an easy penalty attempt in search of a match-winning try, which came four minutes from time, when No8 Richard Naylor drove over from a ruck.
"We won the game through applying pressure," coach David Cockburn said. "It wasn’t pretty rugby but we got there through guts and heart."
The team’s standout players were prop Matt Holland and fullback Lee Terewi.
Arrowtown produced a tryfest against Cromwell Cavaliers at Jack Reid Park, winning 66-9, as hooker Ben Carr scored a hat-trick of tries, while Upper Clutha rebounded from the loss to Cromwell Goats with a 34-12 victory over Maniototo at Wanaka.
- Bob Howitt