Round 9 v Hornby Panthers

It will be another Halswell-Hornby match for the history books. A feisty encounter saw the Halswell Hornets Club Day end with some fireworks. Unfortunately the Halswell Hornets Premiers came of second best in terms of a penalty count and the score line. Hornby are now circling the top two spots on the CRL Premiership ladder as they took out a 24-20 victory. The Halswell Hornets also finished the last half an hour with 12 men as Jordan Kane was questionably sent off for a dangerous tackle. However the Hornets showed some heart to remain in the contest until the final whistle.

If the Panthers didn’t have a fire in their bellies upon arriving at Halswell Domain, they sure did when their warm up began with reading their Reserves side being demolished to the tune of 88-6 by the Hornets. While both sides came out firing, neither of the Premier sides could gain the upper hand in the early stages of the encounter. However the number of the penalties took their toll on the Hornets as the Panthers’ fullback crossed from close range. When Hornby’s big centre Barry Alaimalo was sat for ten minutes after retaliating in the tackle, which led to some pushing and shoving – the Hornets took advantage and Will Tafua put on two tries for the home side. New recruit, Daniel Ball failed to convert either try as the Hornets carried an 8-6 lead into half time. Not long after Craig Smith put the Panthers back in front, tempers flared once more, and both sides were warned that further infringements would incur severe penalties. Jordan Kane wore the referee’s frustration as he tried to gain control of the match – after lifting past the horizontal, Kane was sent from the field for the remainder of the match. It was a result that would prove crucial to the match. Corey Lawrie and Cody Te Awa put on two quick tries for the visitors as they built a 20-8 lead. The Sauni brothers then linked well together as their efforts put younger brother Erwin over in a long range effort. Older brother Matt then ran a fantastic line to score another try, but it turned out to be a consolidation effort as former Halswell player, Damien Papuni, had scored to give the Panthers an unassailable lead only a few minutes earlier. The Hornets tried their luck after Matt’s try, but the final whistle sealed the Hornet’s second loss of the season; leaving them in second place on the table by three points.

While a win could have lifted the Halswell Hornets Premiers to within 1 point of ladder leaders, the Linwood Keas, they will look to regroup against a big Celebration Lions side. The Lions held the Keas to a 14 all draw on the weekend, after keeping them scoreless for the entire first half. However they could not contain the Keas in the second stanza as they came back after the half time break. The Hornets will be looking to keep the Lions scoreless for the full 80 minutes as they look to get their assault on the number one sport back on track. could be considered an ugly win, the Hornets will take the two points and head back to Halswell Domain to prepare for another tough encounter in Round 3. So get on down to Cuthberts Green at 2.45pm on Saturday 17 June and support our Premier side as they seek to continue to sting the Lions at home!

Go the mighty Hornets!!!

Hornby Panthers 24 – Tries: Damien Papuni, Kodi TeAwa, Corey Lawrie, Darren Gillespie, Craig Smith; Goals: James Baxendale (2);

Halswell Hornets 20 – Tries: Will Tafua (2), Matt Sauni, Erwin Sauni; Goals: Daniel Ball (2).