HPC vs Glenfield College 1st XV, June 20th, 2009.

This was to be our first game of the 2nd Round and was expected to be a hard fought tussle and it definitely lived up to the expectation. It saw us up against 2nd placed Glenfield at Glenfield College. From the kick off the game was so intense with big hits from both sides which echoed from both side lines. Early on we were able to dominate up front in the forwards which allowed us to gain some momentum and possession of the ball. However due to some poor defence in the backs the Glenfield centre was able to break the line and feed his outside backs putting Glenfield up in front. Then quickly from the re-start we managed to tighten up in the rucks and we quickly replied to some great lead up work from hooker Ardi Mahu.
The game then developed into a sea-saw struggle with Glenfield scoring and then Hato Petera replying immediately, Glenfield leading 22-17 at the break.
After an encouraging rev up from both coaches about organising the defence especially in the backs where Glenfield constantly penetrated we were able to slowly gain some composure 60 minutes in to the second half, which saw tries to our half-back Quinten Heka and hooker Ardi Mahu. Unfortunately as the game progressed Glenfield dominated and in the end ran away with it 36-27. Although the result was quite disappointing we can take the positive aspects of it away with us. Defence and communication was the key and we will need to brush up on these if we are to make the finals this year.