Upper Clutha hold on to claim title

Otago Daily Times

6 days ago

The season was almost five minutes too long for Central Otago's champion club Upper Clutha, who dramatically held on for a 39-38 victory over Clutha in the Otago Countrywide club final at Wanaka on Saturday.
Ahead 39-24 with seven minutes to play, the Rams, despite being battered and bruised and seriously lacking a goalkicker, were seemingly coasting to victory.
Oh, yeah — Clutha had other ideas. In the space of four minutes replacement winger Kurt Botting bolted in for a brace of tries, one after an 80m dash down the touchline.
Ace goalkicker Sam Stratford converted both from wide out — giving him six successful kicks from six attempts, contrasting with Upper Clutha's two successes from nine attempts — and suddenly it was 39-38 with three minutes still to play.
The Upper Clutha players who had probably been focusing on a cool beer at the conclusion of a long, demanding season, suddenly had to refocus on a fired-up opponent who wouldn't go away.
They did it emphatically, pinning Clutha in their 22 through till the final whistle, much to the relief of coach Alex Dickson.
"Things got a bit desperate there towards the finish," Dickson said. "But we've got a great team culture where everyone plays for each other and that saw us through in those final moments."
It was a challenging final outing for Dickson, who before the game lost goalkicker Brodie Flannery with a hamstring tear, captain Lachie
Garrick, bedridden with a 'bug', and flanker Arthur Boutillier with a shoulder injury.
The injuries kept coming throughout the match, for both teams.
Clutha lost flanker Sam Viliamu, who was taken by ambulance to hospital with a broken shoulder, while two Upper Clutha players, winger Dan O'Shea and flanker Joel Turnbull, both 'popped' their shoulders.
Turnbull gallantly played on after having the shoulder 'popped' back in.
Upper Clutha effectively won the game in the first half when they scored six tries, thanks to the speed and elusiveness of fullback Henry Schikker, centre Milan Martinovich and winger Jack East.
East, who shredded the Clutha defence on many occasions without getting the five-pointer he deserved, claimed the man of the match award, which could just as easily have gone to Martinovich, who will be missed next season when he heads overseas.
Midfielder Oliver Stirling, who took over as captain, No. 8 Jake Burtenshaw, who gave his all for 80 minutes and made some telling tackles in those desperate final moments, and front rowers Ben McKeich, Scott Cunningham and Blair Kennedy all turned in massive efforts.
Clutha, whose best included lanky lock Tate Colley, flanker Viliamu till he came to grief, ace goalkicker Stratford, try-scoring centre Sylvester Reeves and winger Botting, who electrified the game after coming off the bench.
So ends a fabulous season for Upper Clutha, whose trophy cabinet is now stocked to overflowing. The scores
Countrywide
Upper Clutha 39
Henry Schikker (2), Milan Martinovich (2), Dan O'Shea, Ben McKeich, Caleb Dixon tries; Martinovich 2 con.
Clutha 38
Kurt Botting (2), Samoa Viliamu, Sylvester Reeves, Dallas Pickering tries, Sam Stratford 5 con, pen.
— Bob Howitt