Devils downed, but not out

The Marlborough Red Devils threw the formbook out the window at Lansdowne Park on Saturday evening, pushing their more-favoured opponents all the way.

In the curtain-raiser to the Mako match, the Red Devils went down 22-19 to the Nelson Bays Griffins. The clash was much tighter than anticipated. Seddon Shield holders the Griffins were coming off wins over Buller and West Coast, while Marlborough had been beaten by both Heartland sides.

After a first half littered with errors Nelson Bays led 10-7 through tries to wingers Jack Gray and Nic Sauira. Although outweighed up front, the Red Devils hoed into their work, a try to hooker Monu Moli reward for their efforts.

Soon after oranges the Griffins grabbed their third, through lock Josh Te Hira, before a touchdown to Marlborough fullback Clyde Paewai and a second conversion from Corey Bovey closed the gap to 15-14.

The home side was in again soon after, through lock Mike Tuipulotu, to establish a 19-17 lead but Nelson came storming back, No 8 Sio Latu crashing over to establish the winning advantage. Despite Marlborough getting over the line with time up on the clock, only to be penalised for a truck and trailer infringement, the Griffins held on to keep their winning record intact.

Outstanding for the home side was No 8 Vailua Kaloni, his ram- paging runs creating momentum to attack from, while Moli, lock Matt McCormick and halfback Ethan Jones were also prominent.