Marist pip Stoke at the death

A last gasp try by centre Rahiri Witehira sunk Stoke during a nail-biting encounter with Marist at Greenmeadows today.

The beers will taste slightly bitter for Stoke tonight as the club was unable to celebrate its 75^th jubilee with a win.

Just moments after he threw an intercept pass which looked to have given away the game, Witehira made amends in dramatic fashion with his third and match-winning try in the final play.

Witehira says scoring right in front of the packed Stoke clubrooms made it even more special.

After conceding a late try against the run of play, it appeared Stoke may just upset the defending champions, but Marist showed its championship caliber by coming back to steal it at the death.

“We just got our tails up and knew we could get it done, we have learnt how to win," says Witehira.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Stoke, who showed tremendous courage on defence in the face of a relentless late assault.

“They deserved the win just as much as we did but we are glad to get across the line.”

It didn’t take long for Stoke to give its healthy home crowd something to cheer about with centre Asher Veamatahau powering over inside the opening minute.

Sam Briggs opened Marist’s account with a penalty before Rahiri Witehira pounced on a charged kick and streaked 50 metres to bring his side within two.

It was a bruising opening fourty minutes and the physicality took its toll, Marist losing hooker Leopino Maupese through injury.

Briggs gave Marist the lead for the first time with his second penalty right after the break.

Stoke also suffered casualties as Lachie Doyle sustained a head injury and was forced to leave the field.

Marist enjoyed a sustained period of attack but Stoke bravely stood its ground against the larger pack.

Its resilience was rewarded when Amanaki Veamatahau plucked a Marist pass out of the air and outsprinted the cover to reclaim the lead for Stoke with time just ten minutes remaining.

Marist continued to hammer away but Stoke continued to survive, holding the visitors up over the chalk with some desperate defence.

The pressure eventually proved to much when Witehira waltzed over for his second to bring his side within one.

However, under merciless heckling from the supporters, Briggs pushed his conversion attempt wide.

Corey McKay extended the advantage to four with his second penalty and Stoke looked to close out the final moments with ball in hand.

The turnover eventually came though when the hosts conceded a penalty inside its own 22 and Marist took full advantage to snatch a late victory.

Elsewhere, Waimea Old Boys picked up a resounding win over Nelson at Jubilee Park 56-14 while Wanderers defeated Renwick 26-10 in Brightwater.

On Friday night in Riwaka, Kahurangi bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 51-3 win over Moutere/Awatere.

Scorers:

Marist 23 (Witehira 3, tries, Briggs 2 pens, 1 con)

Stoke 20 (Asher Veamatahau, Amanaki Veamatahau, tries, McKay, 2 cons, 2 pens)

Results

Waimea 56 def Nelson 14

Wanderers 26 def Renwick 10

Kahurangi 51 def Moutere/Awatere 3