This clipping is from the April 3 issue of The Otago Daily Times iPhone Edition .
Round 3
Big three remain undefeated
University 34 (Sam Dickson, Sione Teu, Thomas Umaga-Jensen , Sam Pene tries; Stephen Fenemor 4
con, 2 pen), Alhambra-Union 29 (Ty Pelasio, Junior Vitale tries; Zach Porter 2 con, 5 pen). Halftime:
Alhambra-Union 23-17.
Dunedin 46 (Harry Dodds 2, Sam Anderson-Heather , Fapene Popoali’i , Leroy van Dam, Mone SamatePalu tries; Tim Cossens 5 con, 2 pen) Kaikorai 19 (Mitchell Purvis, Cian Romain, Ben Miller tries; Miller 2
con). Halftime: Dunedin 15-14.
Southern 22 (Mika Mafi 2, Kyle Harris, Josh Walden tries; Josh Ioane con), Taieri 15 (Josh Casey 5 pen).
Halftime: 12-12.
Harbour 33 (Logan Allen, Sio Tomkinson, Alan Burling, Aiden Spence, Jerome Harimate tries; Allen con,
Tomkinson 2 con, Lisala Halaleva con), Green Island 7 (Jackson Hemopo try; Shane McNoe con).
Halftime: Harbour 12-7 . Standings.—
UNIVERSITY, Dunedin and Southern all remain unbeaten after three rounds.
Dunedin was the most convincing winner. It dispatched defending champion Kaikorai 46-19 to win the
Challenge Shield.
University scored two converted tries and landed a penalty in the final 20-odd minutes to beat aspirited
Alhambra-Union 34-29 .
Southern had atight battle with Taieri, eventually winning 22-15 . Harbour had too much class in the
backsfor Green Island and ran out the winner 33-7 .
University................................ 34 Alhambra-Union .................... 29
The A in AU must stand for almost.
Alhambra-Union almost beat Dunedin on Wednesday. It almost upsetUniversity on Saturday and last
season it almost won quite a few more games.
But based on its efforts so far it might almost slip into the playoffs. It is abig call but AlhambraUniondominated University for a good 60 minutes at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
It has a slippery backline led by elusive fullbackJona Nareki and, in a wide open game, the Broncos
reallyshone despite losing 34-29 .
The team was helped along by a dysfunctional University lineout .
Some wonky throwing and terrible timing starved University of the ball.
Alhambra embracedthe opportunity to spin the ball wide and its first try was absolutely brilliant. No 8 Ty
Pelasio found himself on the end of the chain after the ball had been swung left.
He put in a superbly executed grubber which skipped along the sideline. And with a burst of surprising
speed he caught up with it, unleashed a dive and scored in the corner.
First five-eighth Zach Porter proved deadly with the boot, drilling two conversions and five penalties, one of
which was a booming effortfrom the wrong side of halfway.
Alhambra had got in front 29-17 with 18 minutes to play. But a series of penalties allowed the experienced
Stephen Fenemor to plug the corner and University got back in front through two converted tries to
powerful midfielder Thomas Umaga-Jensen and replacement forward Sam Pene.
Dunedin............................... 46 Kaikorai............................... 19
Dunedin humbled the defending champion Kaikorai 46-19 at Bishopscourt and took the Challenge
Shieldwith it back to Kettle Park.
It was also alittle bit of revenge for its defeat in the final last year.
Dunedin’s big pack wrested control of the game midway through the first half and that set the platform for
its comfortablewin .
Kaikorai had the wind at its backfor the opening 40 minutes and made a more than decent start.
It scored two good tries through Mitchell Purvis and Ben Miller. But Dunedin’s forwards found their rhythm
and lock Harry Dodds went across for two tries.
Hooker Sam Anderson-Heather was influential and Dunedin went into the break witha 15-14 lead.
The second spell was pretty much one-way traffic. Dunedin spent alot of time camped on Kaikorai’s line,
battering away.
The home team was denied the ball for long periods and the hugedefensiveeffort starting taking its toll.
Dunedin had too muchfirepower and stretched its lead. An intercept try to speedy winger Mone SamatePalu put the result beyond doubt.
Fullback Tim Cossens had a strong game and slotted five conversion and two penalties.
Centre Leroy van Dam enjoyed all the front-foot ball his forwards provided, and Samate-Palu is a tearaway.
For Kaikorai, lock Pita Sinamoni stood out in apack which wasbackpedalling.
Southern ............................. 22 Taieri ................................... 15
Mika Mafi put the heart into a strong performance from the Southern forward pack asit overcame a spirited
Taieri side in the Roy Nieper Trophy match at Bathgate Park.
The powerful No 8 proved an inspirational force, scoring two of his side’s four tries. The first from a
breakdown 20m out and the second after he ran the ball blindside from a 5m scrum.
Despite being put on the back foot early, when it conceded a try after just 20 seconds of play, Taieri was
quick to regroup and made good use of a strong northerly .
First five-eighth Josh Casey kicked the first of five penalty goals minutes later.
The match was an intense defensive battle as both sidesran the ball at every opportunity. But poor
disciplinebecame aproblem for Southern, as Taieri kept it pinned inside its own half.
Casey levelled the scores 12-12 with a fourth penalty just before the break.
Poor handling and turnovers cost Taieri in the second half. Mafi’s second try, and halfback Josh Walden’s
try from a run off the back of a scrum 35m out, was perhaps the result of Taieri letting its intensity drop
away.
Southern was also well served up front by locks Andrew Sanders and Josh Clark, along with prop Craig
Millar. Centre Rema Smith was solid in defence and a threat on attack.
Prop Guy Millar, lock Brendon Murdoch and No 8 Brodie Hume were the best for Taieri.
Harbour ................................. 33 Green Island.......................... 7
Harbour blasted out of the blocks at the start of each spell to score five tries and put Green Island on the
back foot at Miller Park.
The free-running Harbour backs were always dangerous and made ground once the first defensive line
was breached.
Fullback Logan Allen sped down the left flank to scorethe first try after five minutes and Harbour led 12-0
after10 minutes.
The Green Island forwards controlled the game for the rest of the spell.
The driving play of Pete Mirrielees , lock Ben Lang who made six clean line out takes, and the tackling of
Brett Kingsbury helped Green Island dominate the last 25 minutes of the spell.
When fiery No 8 Jackson Hemopo scored midway through the spell, the gap was reduced to fivepoints (127 ) and it stayed that way until halftime.
The Harbour pack was strengthened in the second spell by replacement lock Chucky Koroi and open side
flanker James Tomkinson.
Harbour made its second blast in the first 20 minutesof the second spell when it scored three more tries to
lead 33-7 to put Green Island out of the game.
The standout back for Harbour was classy Sio Tomkinson in the midfield, who was skilled at finding the
gap, passingand kicking.
Replacement centre Jerome Harimate added fluency to the Harbour backs in the second spell.
Harbour was reduced to 14 men for 20 minutes in the second spellwhen brothers James and Sio
Tomkinson spent time in the sin bin.
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