News

Pukekohe got back to winning ways with a hard fought 30-17 win over Bombay at Colin Lawrie Field in the McNamara Cup on Saturday. After back-to-back losses over the past couple of weeks, Michael Porter’s side needed to right the ship and they did just that in a tough encounter.

“Nice to get back on the horse again,” Porter told Counties Sports Hub. “Nice to score some nice tries against a good Bombay side. There’s definitely still plenty to work on for us this week going up against a good Papakura side.”

Karaka moved into sole possession of top spot on the table after beating Papakura 39-17 at Karaka Sports Complex. "The boys started the game really well, scoring a couple of good tries,” coach Craig Hill explained. “Then we went through a messy period, before finishing the game off with a couple of tries. Bit of a mixed bag – Papakura competed hard at the breakdown, forcing us into errors. They certainly played the full 80.”

Manurewa found life challenging early against winless Ardmore Marist before kicking into gear and running away with the game 97-17 to pick up their second win in as many weeks. “The first 20 minutes, Ardmore really took it to us,” said coach Jeremy Clark. We got some ball and stuck to structures and policies for long periods and then points accumulated. To Ardmore’s credit, they kept coming and played out the 80 minutes.”

Karaka tops the table as the only unbeaten side on 25 points, ahead of Patumahoe (20), Pukekohe (17) and Manurewa (16).

Karaka completed the Premier/Premier Development double over Papakura with a 38-16 victory in Bob Chandler Cup play, while Pukekohe proved too strong for Bombay 38-20.

Onewhero moved into a share of third place on the Sid Marshall Shield table with a 27-5 win on the road at Puni.

Manurewa kept in touch with the top four thanks to a big 74-10 win over Tuakau while Te Kauwhata got their season into gear with a much-needed 48-5 win at home over Te Kohanga.

Weymouth remained top of the table thanks to a 24-24 draw with Maramarua – the first blemish on their record this season.

Waiuku hold second place after an impressive 21-15 win on the road against defending champions Drury.

Two-time defending champs Karaka remained unbeaten in the Massey Cup U21 grade with a 42-10 win over Ardmore Marist while Patumahoe beat Pukekohe 25-18 at Colin Lawrie Field.

Manurewa picked up a big 52-3 win over Pukekohe in the Bright Cup U19 grade.

Elsewhere, Waiuku cruised to a 60-7 win over Weymouth, while Ardmore Marist prevailed 24-12 against Auckland side Puketapapa.

Beachlands Maraetai secured an emotional 22-17 U85kg win over Pukekohe in their first match since the tragic passing of Cory Heather a fortnight ago.

Karaka blanked Drury 58-0 while Patumahoe secured a 43-5 win on the road at Onewhero.

Manurewa fell to Marist Brothers 34-32 in Emma Jensen Cup Premier Women’s play on Saturday.

In the Women’s Development grade, Karaka beat Grammar TEC 42-7 while Papakura and Pukekohe picked up wins by default over College Rifles and Pakuranga respectively.