First five-eighth Andrew Reid kicked five penalties and two conversions in Taieri's 34-14 victory over Kaikorai at Peter Johnstone Park yesterday.
Reid was also the spark that set alight the Taieri backline. A try to wing Shannon Young, to open the scoring, was a direct result of Reid running into space to set up an inside pass.
The Taieri midfield combination of Ben Nowell and Michael Collins thrived in the space provided by Reid and were solid in defence, creating opportunities for Young, who proved a handful for the Kaikorai defence.
Until late in the game, both sets of forwards struggled to dominate. But as the game counted down, Taieri began to dominate the set piece, with replacement prop Craig Kippenburger making an impact.
Kaikorai looked like it could come back into the match early in the second half, with Taieri down to 14 men after wing Kieran Moffat was sin-binned. The Kaikorai loose forward trio of Lee Allen, Adam Hill and Blair Tweed put Taieri's defensive capabilities to the test, but when Kaikorai lost wing Hayden Wyber to the sin bin for the final 10 minutes, Taieri was able to cut loose with two late tries.
Taieri 34 (Shannon Young, Dean Collins, Michael Collins, tries; Andrew Reid 2 con, 5 pen), Kaikorai 14 (Sam Cross try; Cam Rutherford 3 pen). Halftime: 16-8 Taieri.
Referee: Mike Smaill.
Taieri ... 34
Kaikorai ... 14