Raetihi vs Taihape Pirates

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 387, 21 May 1991, Page 12

Raetihi vs Taihape Pirates

BY

BOOTLACE

Raetihi went into this game hoping to pick up their first win of the competition however they were unable to capitalise on their possession advantage, which led to a Taihape Pirates win 19-12 at Rugby on Saturday.

Kick off saw the Raetihi forward pack take the game to Taihape Pirates with the first 10 minutes being played solely in Pirate's territory. Minutes later Taihape were awarded a penalty for some infringing play from Raetihi which resulted in a 3-0 lead to Pirate's. Twelve minutes into the game Raetihi let a brilliant try scoring opportunity go begging when a loose pass was intercepted by the Taihape wing who had to sprint 60 metres down the field to score. The try was converted which left Raetihi reeling with a 90 deficit 25 minutes into the first half. The next 15 minutes of the game were Raetihi's. Through constant pressure and almost total possession of the ball Raetihi were

awarded a scrum five metres from the Pirate's line which resulted in a try to Paul Trow. The try was converted leaving a half time score of 9-6 to Pirates. The second half was the more entertaining of the two with Taihape opting to run the ball wide when given the chance. Pirate's "Man of the Match" Graham Pederson proved to be a handful in the midfield with some bustling runs and good chasing up of attacking kicks. It was through him that Taihape scored their second try one minute into the half, when an up and under went to ground in front of the posts and Pederson was there to snap it up and dive over for a try which was convexfed. Raetihi came back strongly when a quick penalty was taken and given to captain Tom Rawiri who barged his way up the field. The subsequent scrum resulted in a try to Aaron McCann which was converted leaving the game wide open at 15-12. Pirates were to get the last say but not before some tough defence from Raetihi, Mark Donghi in particular, denied them a couple of certain tries. Raetihi voted John Binzegger as the player of the day after he gave 110 per cent effort in his

first outing with the seniors. Scorers; Taihape, tries; J Wilson, L Harnett, G Pederson one try, two conversions and one penalty. Raetihi, tries; P Trow, A McCann and M Donghi two conversions.