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Manurewa Kidd Contracting inflicted a third straight defeat on reigning McNamara Cup champions Bombay with an impressive 25-17 win at Bombay Domain on Saturday in a thrilling Easter Weekend of action.

The four-try bonus-point win will also be a huge boost to Manurewa’s confidence. While they have already produced a couple of impressive performances a complete display against a known title-calibre team will convince the young side they have the ability to beat anyone.

“It was a battle,” Clark said. “It was always going to be tough coming up to Bombay and getting the victory. We knew we had to be at our best.

“I am stoked with the performance we put out on the field today from one to 15 for 80 minutes, defending for long periods. We were stuck on our line for the last 15-20 minutes of the match and we kept them out.

“I couldn’t ask more of the boys so very stoked.”

Young winger Willie Tuala was a standout for the visitors, making a number of breaks and generally causing trouble for the Bombay defense.

“We had a young winger that cut them open a few times and scored a couple of tries. He was outstanding,” Clark said.

“He is a younger brother of Ahsee Tuala, who played for the Steelers a few years back. He is a young up and comer. He is playing good footy.”

The win lifts Manurewa into the top four while Bombay are languishing in eighth spot.

Patumahoe Troydon Patumahoe Hotel continued their four-game winning streak to start the season with a 43-6 win over Te Kauwhata EnviroWaste under lights at Patumahoe Domain on Thursday night.

The home side had to work hard for their points as Te Kauwhata scrapped hard and defended strongly. In the end the cream rose to the top but Patumahoe coach Reon Graham admitted it was far from a polished performance.

“We got the win. You can only get five points from a game, which is what we did and they didn’t score against us, which is again a positive but we will take a lot a way to work on for next week,” Graham said.

“I think we just needed a bit more direct running from us. We got a bit lateral. In saying that Te Kauwhata, for the whole 80 minutes, showed up and kept on coming at us and defended well.

“It took a long time to get on top of them and even when we did get on top they didn’t let up.”

Graham was able to get some younger guys some game time.

“It is really good to start building the depth with some of the young fellas,” Graham added. “We had two debutants and one 17-year-old straight out of school and he played really well.”

Patumahoe gets an extra couple of days break before a clash against Onewhero next weekend at Patumahoe Domain.

Waiuku Brian James Contracting got their second win of the season as they edged Papakura 23-20 in the second Thursday night game at Massey Park.

The visitors out-scored Papakura three tries to two but found themselves down at halftime.

“We did get away with it,” Wara admitted. “They were strong and caught us by surprise to be honest.

“We were down at the end by four points with four minutes left on the clock and luckily we got home but they put us under a lot of pressure and really took the game to us.”

Papakura have been threatening to knock over one of the big sides for the last 12 months and this was maybe as close as they have come to it but Wara thinks they will take an extra step in the very near future.

“It think they are going to get one of the big teams soon,” he said. “We knew we were up for a challenge. I think if a team takes them lightly someone is going to be surprised.

“They have done really well in terms of their recruitment and development over the last couple of years and I think they are in for a good season.”

The last-gasp win will have a lasting effect on Wara’s young side. They had to do it the hard way but winning in the clutch moments will do them the world of good.

“It was good character building for us. We were under the pump the whole game and it was an 80 minute game. That was the most pleasing thing – we didn’t tuck tail and run – for a young side to come through was really pleasing.”

Ardmore Marist South Auckland Motors claimed the Counties Power Game of the Week by beating Pukekohe Mitre 10 Mega 27-21 in tight affair at Colin Lawrie Fields on Good Friday.

“It was a tight tussle in the second half. I thought we did alright in the first half – we played a lot of rugby but I think we over-played it in the second half,” Ardmore Marist coach Doug Sanft said. “We weren’t smart enough to play a bit of territory.

“Our set piece was good. We would score some points and then we couldn’t get our kick-receive sorted so we just gave them the ball back.

“They have got a solid forward pack that plays a tight game and we gave away silly penalties.”

Sanft’s side has now won three games on the bounce and hold second place on the championship ladder but despite that he feels there is plenty they can do better.

“We have got a lot of room to improve. In saying that it is still the first round and we are still learning to play with some combinations – we had a few injuries and some guys away with Easter.

“We got the job done but we are certainly not happy.”

Latiume Fosita tops the AS Wilcox Ltd leaderboard with 41 points on the season.

Karaka continued their three-game winning run with a 36-10 win over Onewhero.

Both sides have been in good form so the one-sided score-line demonstrated just how impressive the visitors were.

“It was excellent,” coach Scott Penney said of the performance. “Since that first game against Pukekohe – it was probably the right thing we needed.

“It is not easy going up the hill at any time of the year but you know what you get when you go up there. You get a big forward pack and a massive set of centres running at you so the boys did really well to cope with that today.

“I think it was just our perseverance. The younger guys are learning off the experienced guys we have there that they have to have a bit of patience with and without the ball.

“To give you an example Onewhero attacked us for about 15 minutes but then we scored a length of the field try that broke the back.”

Karaka, Patumahoe Dave Redshaw Electrical and Manurewa Wise Property Management enjoyed lop-sided wins in Premier 2 action over the weekend while Waiuku took a narrow 8-3 win over Papakura and Pukekohe reversed the result of their premier side with a victory over Ardmore Marist Ross Roof Group.

McNamara Cup (Premier 1)

Patumahoe Troydon Patumahoe Hotel (Counties Power Cup Holders) 43

(Palu Ale 2, Jonny Wilkinson, Mark Royal, Troy Michie, Sam Furniss, James Brady tries; Jonny Wilkinson 4 cons)

Te Kauwhata EnviroWaste 6

(Caleb Brown 2 pens)

HT: 26-6

 Papakura 20

(Faalae Peni, Pareura Katoa tries; Faalae Peni 2 cons; Faalae Peni 2 pens)

Waiuku Brian James Contracting 23

(Bryce Vaireka, Vuga Tagicakibau, Alamoti Funaki tries; Christian Walker cons; Christian Walker, Ronan Lawrence pens)

HT: 13-3

 Pukekohe Mitre 10 Mega(Counties Power Game of the Week) 21

(Trent White, Samu Pailegutu tries; Sione Fifita cons; Sione Fifita 2, Vilitati Sabani pens)

Ardmore Marist South Auckland Motors 27

(Katetistoti Nginingini, Karl Ropati, Alefosio Tapili tries; Latiume Fosita 3 cons; Latiume Fosita 2 pens)

HT: 11-13

 Bombay 17

(Ki Anufe, Chay Macwood tries; Tim Cossens, Ki Anufe cons; Ki Anufe pens)

Manurewa Kidd Contracting 25

(Peter White 2 , Willie Tuala 2 tries; James Faiva cons; James Faiva pens)

HT: 17-15

 Onewhero  10

(Romero Tagi, Ilaisa Koaneti tries)

Karaka 36

(Rodney Tongotea 2, Deniro Refiti 2, Juan Benadie tries; Juan Benadie 4 cons; Juan Benadie pens)

HT: 5-19

 Bob Chandler Memorial (Premier 2)

Papakura 3 Waiuku 8; Patumahoe Dave Redshaw Electrical 45 Te Kauwhata 5; Bombay 17 Manurewa Wise Property Management 56; Pukekohe 34 Ardmore Marist Ross Roof Group 22; Onewhero 0 Karaka 74.