Match Report: Carterton vs Martinborough

By Andrew Dunford

Carterton 55 (Fiula Tameilau (3), Malakai Biumaiwai (2), Inia Katia, Tupou Le’aemanu (2) tries; penalty try; Ben Brooking 4 conversions) Martinborough 19.

Carterton hosted Martinborough on Old Timers’ Day and reversed a narrow defeat earlier in the season with an emphatic victory, dominating the match throughout.

Carterton started as though determined to erase last week’s defeat and scored after just four minutes through Fiula Tameilau. Malakai Biumaiwai then charged over on 13 minutes after Aseri Waqa dispossessed a Martinborough player, and Ben Brooking’s second excellent conversion from a wide angle gave the home team a 14-0 lead and raised his century of points for the season.

After 20 minutes Inia Katia tapped a free kick and ran through weak defence to score for 19-0. Martinborough pulled a try back, then a good defensive catch and midfield run by Ben Alvis followed by an Aseri Waqa break led to a penalty try, a yellow card for Martinborough and a 26-7 halftime lead for Carterton.

Carterton started the second half with a bang, the Biumaiwai brothers combining to create a try for Tupou Lea’aumanu after 41 minutes. Martinborough responded after Brandon Wright had been sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on, but Fiula Tameilau (52 minutes) and Malakai Biumaiwai (54) scored their second tries to make the game safe at 45-14.

Martinborough scored a third try after 60 minutes. Carterton emptied its bench, kept pressing forward in the final quarter and were rewarded with further unconverted tries to Tupou Lea’aemanu after a Logan Wakefield lineout take, and Fiula Tameilau, who powered through several tackles following a big midfield run from Logan Wakefield to complete his hat trick and end the scoring at 55-19.

Inia Katia set the tone for Carterton with a huge first-half performance, making several strong runs and especially in his dominant tackling. Tupou Lea’aemanu made metres with ball in hand all day, Greg Gouws logged a big tackle count and Logan Wakefield was prominent at the lineout, carrying the ball and in the tackle. Fiula Tameilau was the outstanding back on the field, solving the puzzle of who to play at second-five with an exceptional display both on attack and defence. Aseri Waqa was sharp on attack at centre, and Ben Hancox-Uelese gave his best display in a Carterton shirt, running strongly on the right wing.

Carterton now tops the Moose Kapene points table and a win next week at Gladstone will bring a home semi-final on 8 July.