HPC vs Kristen College 1st XV, July 21st, 2009

This was to be a mid-week catch up game due to the school's boarding commitments. To the say the least, it was a game of utter frustration, countless mistakes and poor decision making by a team that we feel is far better than it's opposition. However today everything that could go wrong went wrong, it was one of those days and unfortunately it wasn't our day.
The game started with us being penalised by the referee numerous times and to be fair i thought some calls were one-sided and felt the team were hard done by however we must adapt and play the game. Kristen managed to score a try early on and a penalty kick shortly followed bringing the score to 10-nil at the break.
The second half started like the first and the boys were starting to become frustrated with some of the referee's decisions and it impacted on the team's aura and the way in which they played on the field. However we managed to counter-attack with some good pick and go work from the forwards with some good lead up work from Hati Mahanga and Ardi Mahu. We spent a bit of time in Kristen's 22 and a short break to the blind our forwards managed to drive Hemi Hill over the try line but to be called held up by the ref. Throughout the game we had many opportunities to score points but we either lost possession, the ball got turned over or we chose to run it when we should have either kicked for possession or kicked for a penalty conversion. The Kristen 1st Five made us pay putting the ball behind us all day and in the end our forwards tired and our poor fitness showed. In the end Kristen ran away with it 16-0 and well deserved win to them I must say. For our boys it is a game we would like to forget but one that we have learnt from. This weekend sees us up against Birkenhead College at home and a big game it should be with semi-final spots up for grabs. We only have four more games left we must win them all if we are to have any chance of making the playoffs this year.