Raetihi junior rugby challenge

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 581, 11 April 1995, Page 16

Raetihi junior rugby challenge

On Saturday 8 April the Raetihi Junior rugby team ventured south to take on one of their bigger challengers — Taihape always a strong opposition. The games proved this, although as the results show the honours were shared evenly. Credit must not only go to the players, but also to the parents and supporters who braved the conditions to support their players. Although small in stature, the Raetihi midgets played very well. As in most midget games, the score was never the issue with maxi- ■ mum participation and effort shown by both teams. The whole team played well with Shaun Hall named the player-of-the-day andproving to be a bit of a hand-full for the Taihape team scoring a try and saving at least another four. Stacey McFadyen also showed great skills around the paddock. The Juniors also proved that they will be a team to be reckoned with. The draw of 10-10 was a great result.

Alex Herewini was named player-of-the-day. David Linel and Hoani Brown scored tries. The intermediate team showed that the potential of Raetihi rugby is alive and strong. After a very slow start they were down 15-5 at half-time. A better sec-ond-half from players like Corey Carmichael, Fraser Hammond, Chaise Tasker and Sean Hammond in the • forward pack and Tom Kavanaugh and Kyle Martin in the back-line saw a win right on full-time. The try scorers were Fraser Hammond, Matthew Journeaux and Riki Taura.

The player-of-the-day was Matthew Journeaux. Raetihi seniors competed well in the first-half with the change-over seeing Raetihi behind by 12-10. The usual second half comeback by the Raetihi team never eventuated. The Taihape team with a more committed pack took it to the Raetihi side. Excellent performances were shown by Fabien Marumaru, Sean Dobbs and Chris Journeaux. The backs defended well but to no avail. The final result was a 32-10 loss. Jonathan Kui and Sean Dobbs scored the only points for Raetihi.