Rangataua still in semifinal hunt

Staff Reporters | 20th July 2010

I think a few of the top teams will be a bit wary of us if we make the playoffs. Rangataua midfielder Timoti Gardiner Rangataua's romantic notions of a first Baywide club rugby championship still have a fairytale flavour to them, but at least they're still in the hunt.

An improbable series of results on Saturday left the Maungatapu club still in with the slightest of chances to make the semifinals heading into the final round, after knocking over Te Puke at home 13-6.

Rotoiti missed a last-minute conversion to lose 24-23 to Tauranga Sports, while Whakarewarewa ended their playoff hopes by losing 22-18 to Opotiki.

It meant Rangataua leapfrogged Whakarewarewa into fifth on 45 points, still five behind fourth-placed Rotoiti, but with some impressive momentum after their seventh win in nine matches.

"We had a couple of results go our way," midfielder Timoti Gardiner dead-panned. "The pressure's been put on us every week, but we just play like we've got nothing to lose, and that's when we play our best.

"I think a few of the top teams will be a bit wary of us if we make the playoffs because we only lose Jason Hona to the Steamers. So I'd like to think we'd be in with a chance."

Rangataua need to beat relegated Te Teko with a four-try bonus point and hope that Rotoiti can't get a point from their match with Opotiki.

Te Puke narrowly avoided compete disaster in the final play of the match when fullback Brett McLeod nailed a 46m penalty to snatch a bonus point and move his side to 51 points.

That's enough to guarantee a semifinal, meaning a tricky fixture against Whakatane Marist in the last round isn't quite so vital.

It was a sweet comeback for McLeod, who played his first full match last week after fracturing and dislocating an ankle 18 months ago. But he missed a tough penalty shot eerily similar to the one he missed in the 2008 semifinal with his side trailing 9-7 with a minute left.

"It was pretty much the same spot, and I have to admit I was thinking about it," a relieved McLeod laughed. "The last one was better, though, and I struck it well. I'm loving being back, though. We were pretty rough today but hopefully we can come right in the next few weeks."

Perhaps the bravest effort of the day - or even the season - came from the Te Puna side who lost 23-11 to Whakatane Marist.

Their bus was the first on the scene at the horrific car accident in Otamarakau, where six people including children were thrown out of a car. Players comforted the victims and draped their jackets over them until ambulances arrived.

Delayed by more than two hours, Te Puna then carried on to Whakatane for a match suddenly thrust into stark perspective.

"You can't underestimate the impact of what they went through, but they wanted to carry on," coach Vaughn Bidois said. "I'm real proud of them."

In the other match, Zar Lawrence scored a double and brought his season tally to six tries as Mount Maunganui thumped Te Teko 63-35.

Reporoa caused the upset of division one, handing Rangiuru just their second loss of the season by a 29-12 margin, while Kahukura keep their semifinal hopes alive with a convincing win over bottom-of-the-table Ruatoki 63-0.

Kahukura assistant coach Warren Lawrence said the team kept to a basic game plan playing at home at the weekend.

"We looked to apply pressure through our forwards and then to get their pack moving around to tire them out.

"It was pleasing to see the boys stick to the plan and have a positive result."

Greerton Marist beat Marist St Michaels 27-12 and leaders Waikite struggled past Ngongotaha 25-17.

Greerton Marist won their crucial Colts battle with Opotiki 35-22, while leaders Te Puke fought out a 13-3 win over rivals Mount Maunganui.