Central Bay in hunt for senior and colts titles | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

Central Bay will have a crack at the Bay of Plenty Rugby union's sub union trophies after wins over Eastern Bay in Rotorua last night.

Central will play holders Western Bay for the Te Hurinui Apanui and Shalfoon Shields in the final round of the PGG Wrightson sub union series in a fortnight, after beating Eastern 19-0 in the seniors and 15-8 in the colts at Rotorua International Stadium.

Central halfback Curtis van der Heyden scored the opening try in the senior match, breaking the defence on the blindside after being fed by number 8 Siegfried Fisiihoi off an attacking scrum.

Sikeli Vorenasu kept the home side in front with three penalties. The result was put out of doubt when former Steamer Paula Asaeli ran from broken play and allowed Fisiihoi a run to the line for Central's second try.

The game was spirited but the damp conditions didn't help it flow much.

Referee Shane McDermott had a busy night sending three players to the sin bin inside the first 50 minutes of the senior match. The offences were more careless than the result of dirty play.

Eastern's Hata Wilbore got his yellow for a shoulder charge, as did Central's Zach Hohneck while Hayden Baird's was for a spear tackle.

In the colts' game, Central Bay led 15-3 at halftime after scoring three unconverted tries. The visitors, who spent more time on attack but couldn't come up with the winning effort, dominated the second spell. They scored the only points of that half when five eight Tom Johnson crossed.

The next round of the PGG Wrightson sub union series will be on June 2 when shield holders Western Bay face Eastern Bay at Taneatua. Central Bay will play Western on June 7 at Murray Salt Stadium, Te Puke in the final match of the series.

Meanwhile, as well as sponsoring the sub union series, PGG Wrightson will also be involved with the Steamers and club rugby.

They have combined with Balance Agri Nutrients to bring representative rugby to rural communities. On July 9, the Steamers will play the first of their pre-season games against Manawatu at Reporoa. The Steamers second warm-up game will be against Taranaki at Whakatane on July 23.

Richard Weightman said: "[We are] happy to support the Bay Union as they showcase the Steamers in the rural communities of the Bay of Plenty."

Bay union chief Jeremy Curragh said being able to take the Steamers games to Reporoa and Whakatane is part of the union's philosophy to take the Steamers to the regions, and to make the Bay flagship representatives as accessible as possible".

They will also sponsor Player of the Day awards across the divisions for the Bartercard Baywide Club finals day.

• PGG Wrightson Sub Union Series -

Senior: Central Bay (Curtis van der Heyden, Siegfried Fisiihoi tries; Sikeli Vorenasu 3 pen) Eastern Bay 0 HT 8-0 Central.

Colts: Central Bay 15 (Mike Martin, Leighton Simpkins, Matt O'Connor tries) Eastern Bay 8 (Tom Johnson try; Luke Hendrison pen) HT 15-3 Central.