It doesn't get any easier this week for the Doggies heading into the last week of the 'Taranaki Trophy' with Spotswood United sitting only 5 points behind the front runners NPOB. A big weekend will put the Doggies right in the mix.

The Colts who are two from two at present will face their toughest competition to date against the NPOB colts who have been posting cricket scores so far this season.

NPOB Division One & Premier side cleaned up Coastal last weekend at home too.

Our time to shine and show the competition the goods we have.

Josh Cooper at Redemption Strength and Conditioning has been our preferred trainer for the Premier side for many years now. Redemption offer all our club members a discounted rate. 

PREMIERS

Match report by Jade / Jiddles Morgan | Premier Manager

As kickoff approached, the skys were getting darker and darker, but the only storm that came was The Chooks in the first 20 minutes as they shell-shocked the United side letting in four tries before getting hands on the ball.

Spotswood midfielder, Ethen Reti, who attacked and defended well for the entire game, grabbed a well taken try after 25 minutes to get Spotty on the board.

Tukapa had the last few minutes with the wind at their backs to grab another 7 points right on halftime giving them a commanding lead 28-7.

Turning to face the wind didn’t impact Tukapa to start with, attacking with ball in hand well, and rewarded with a few more converted tries.

The injury tally was certainly started to stacked against United in the second spell but we showed a great deal of enthusiasm from the bench and extended periods what we are really capable of.

Spotswood United Player of the Day, Holyfield Kapsin, looked dangerous all day and was rewarded with a brilliant try with 10 minutes to go.

Two weeks in a row the Premier side have shown they will go the full 80 minutes finishing well with outstanding rookie front rower Rikki Sofeni adding again to his seasons try scoring account.

MVP Points:

1- Rikki Sofeni

2 - Ethan Reti

3 - Holyfield Kapsin

Congratulations to debutants Jahmal Hapi, Isaako Tuia & Edward Iotia 

Final Score 47 - 19

COLTS

Match Report: Brendan Hammersley | Colts Manager

Second game of the round saw the Colts team with limited numbers through injuries and the dreaded Covid, but they pulled a team together.

The first half saw the boys take a little while to settle and get into a rhythm which saw Tukapa jump out to an early lead with 2 tries and a conversion.  After settling down a bit the team came back with 2 tries as well by Liam and Haydon making the half time score 10 - 12 to Tukapa 

In the second half the boys got another breath of wind and Juki scored himself another meat pie with the try converted by Daniel, making the score 17 - 12, Tukapa scored another to tie up the scores. The forwards were starting to get on top and using pick and go to make good yards with the reward of a try by Soo to push us out to 22 - 17 which was the final score.

Was a great deserving win by the team.  Massive thanks to the new players that helped out and a big thanks to all the amazing supporters that encourage the boys on to get that win.

Final Score: 22 - 17

DIVISION ONE

Match report by Terry Long | Division One Manager

Liquorice all-sorts this week with a few players unavailable, some late defections and a number of players playing out of position meaning we struggled to put a team on the field.

However this group of men have a lot of heart, desire and character and always play for their mates and this was evident throughout the 32-14 loss to an improving Tukapa outfit.

Playing into the wind throughout the first half the boys defence held extremely well and unfortunately we didn’t capitalise on a couple of opportunities, however were happy with the 13 – 0 scoreline.

To their credit the boys battled really well scoring a couple of good tries but ended up running out of puff.

Standout players were Allan Hartley who played like a terror on the flank, captain fantastic who ran at lock and converted winger Travell had another good game running the cutter at 10.

To be fair they had plenty of support from the rest of the boys. Special mention to Wriley Fryer who put the clubs jersey on the first time.

Onwards and upwards, another big test this weekend.

Final Score: 32 - 14