Papakura youngster Boston Franklyn kicked a sideline conversion after time had expired to seal a 24-24 draw with Manurewa in their McNamara Cup clash at Massey Park on Saturday.
In a entertaining and close contest, the two sides belted away at each other in wet conditions but both sides showed enterprise to spread the ball despite the wet conditions.
Manurewa got in front midway through the first half and looked to have the game all but won with 15 minutes to play and leading by 14.
But Papakura, in a performance that will do wonders for the young side’s confidence, came storming home to score two converted tries to split the points.
“We did enough in the first half to stay in touch,” coach Mark Thomas said. “A couple lapses in discipline let ourselves down a little bit there.
“Really proud of such a young side to show such ticker and fight back and ice the crucial from Boston Franklyn – a really clutch moment.
“We have been good in patches in the previous three matches but we float in and out of matches. We have good spells and poor spells so one of our key words has been consistency and we found a better balance with that today.”
Manurewa were missing a number of players and started former All Blacks winger Lelia Masaga, who impressed in his first game in a number of years.
Bombay led Karaka for much of the first half before Craig Hill’s side eased away in the second half to remain atop the standings with their fourth win from four games – a 37-22 victory.
“Pretty trying weather conditions on the hill especially in the first half but improved in the second,” said Hill.
“We made a lot of handling errors in the first half, not really adapting to the conditions and Bombay’s defence was really committed and organised.
“Second half, with the improving weather, we were able to open up the game up and scored some nice tries.
“Benji Malimali showed his wares and Soni Fineanganofo was excellent up front.
“Happy to come away with full points from the Hill in those conditions.”
Patumahoe remained unbeaten as they beat Ardmore Marist 62-7 at Bruce Pulman Park and climbed to second on the standings.
“Full credit to Ardmore Marist. Filipo [coach Filipo Levi] nailed it in his pre-match interview that they are rebuilding this year,” Patumahoe coach Brad Healy said.
“All the best to them and we look forward to seeing them in the second round.
“I was happy with our start as we have been working hard on that the last couple of weeks. Great team effort and we’re building nicely but know we have a huge battle coming up against a strong Bombay team.
“Very special for the boys to wear our tribute jersey to Private Richie Harris. We will be wearing it again in his family’s honour this coming weekend against Bombay.”
They did the double with their Premier Reserves side beating Ardmore Marist 65-0 in the Bob Chandler Cup.
Karaka thrashed Bombay 68-12 while Manurewa picked up a 44-15 win over Papakura.
Te Kauwhata won for the second week running in the Sid Marshall Shield Championship as they beat Onewhero 40-16 at Onewhero Domain.
Drury stayed unbeaten as well with a convincing 43-0 win over Patumahoe while Weymouth and defending champions Puni played out a thrilling 22-22 draw at Laurie Gibbons Reserve.
Waiuku picked up their first win of the season with an impressive 29-7 victory over Manurewa at Rugby Park while Maramarua bounced back from last week’s loss to Te Kauwhata with a 22-19 win over Te Kohanga at home.
Defending champions Karaka flexed their muscles in the Massey Cup U21 competition as they grabbed a statement 29-11 win over Patumahoe at Karaka Sports Complex.
Manurewa edged Papakura 15-13 at South Park while Pukekohe grabbed a 24-12 road win over Ardmore Marist at Bruce Pulman Park.
Beachlands Maraetai moved to 2-0 with a brilliant 20-18 win over defending champions Onewhero in the U85kg competition at Te Puru Park.
Waiuku proved too good for neighbours Patumahoe 27-17 while Karaka blanked Drury 34-0 at Drury Domain.
Pukekohe picked up a 22-14 win over Ardmore Marist.
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