MATCH:                  Aztec 2                v                   Manurewa Rugby Gold

DATE:                    Saturday 19/5/12                        RESULT:           41 - 42 Manurewa Rugby Gold

TEAM:
Alison White, Ariana Page, Chelsea Bilton, , Luana Beazley-Tango, Ngamira Warren, Nicola O’Malley, Sara Lendrum, Sarah Inkster, Shaiann Hemi, Terri Anne Paea, Tracey Spence, Vaivasa Fatialofa

COACH:                 Wendy Bremner                         MANAGER:       Lucy Bremner

STARTING LINE UP:
Fatialofa GS, Inkster GA, Page WA, White C, Lendrum WD, Spence GD Beazley-Tango GK

BENCH:
O’Malley, Hemi, Paea, Bilton, Warren

Goal for goal in the first 15 minutes with Aztec scoring 8 from 15 and Manurewa Rugby scoring 8 from 13. Defence were working hard with 6 interepts or deflections amongst the 3 and Centre White.
First quarter score:  8 - 8

No positional changes for the second quarter but possession was not treasured and hard earnt ball went out the base line and was squandered at the attacking end giving Manurewa Rugby the ball they needed to pull ahead.  Half time score: 16 - 23 Manurewa Rugby

The third quarter started with Manurewa Rugby scoring 6 before we found the net and pulling ahead by 12. Fatialofa called injury time which gave coach Bremner the chance to swap her to the defence end, bringing Spence out to GD and Bilton on at GS.  This had an immediate effect as the defence started to dominate getting critical ball down to the shooters. Aztec took control scoring 9 to 4 goals in the remaining minutes of this quarter ending with a gap of 6.
Third quarter score:  26 - 32 Manurewa Rugby

No positional changes for the final period of play.  Aztec came out determined to continue the way they ended the last quarter and scored 9 to Manurewa Rugby’s 6 closing the gap to 3.  Manurewa Rugby called injury time but made a critical error making changes not including the player that called injury.  This caused some confusion as they had to return to positions prior to the call and allowed Aztec to take advantage and score 5 before they regained their composure.  Rewa scored the next 4 taking them in front by 2 and the final second saw a penalty goal by Bilton reducing the margin to 1.  Final score 42-41 to Manurewa Rugby.

An exhilarating second half that had everyone pacing the sideline and screaming with excitement.  Even though it was a loss Aztec felt like they had finished winners.

The following day was the second and final RPL tournament and Aztec won all 4 of their matches to secure a place in the Regional Premier league commencing on the 8th of June.  One more game to play in the PNC Presidents round against Ardmore Abs next week.