Kio Kio United fell in the division 1 final to Taupō Marist last Saturday. PHOTO SUPPLIED
It was a case of, not quite, for Kio Kio United on Saturday.
The small rural north King Country club headed to Taupō’s Owen Delany Park hoping to wrestle the King Country division 1 crown from Taupō Marist.
Kio Kio put up a gallant showing but with the side down on personnel, they were unable to snare a victory and fell to Marist 30-17 in an entertaining final.
It’s been an outstanding past six weeks for Kio Kio United, who managed to win three of their last four games to make the final.
A winless round robin had them searching for their first victory in about four years and it came a week after they had to default, picking up a gripping 31-26 victory over Waitomo.
From there, the side played some outstanding rugby to finish second and earn a home semi-final where they managed to take down the Taumarunui Eels.
The Kio Kio side is made up of mostly local players, many of whom are farm workers.
In Saturday’s final, Taupō Marist scored the first try after three minutes, strolling through the Kio Kio defence.
Kio Kio strung some fantastic play together, minutes after the Taupo Marist try but were unable to breach some strong defence.
James Hemara, a former King Country representative and New Zealand Heartland player, was strong in the final for the red-and-blacks, scoring with a try off a quick tap.
Taupō nailed a penalty to go ahead 10-5, before scoring again soon after to increase their lead to 17-5.
They were in again soon after as a wayward kick landed straight in the hands of a Taupō Marist forward to stroll over.
Kio Kio to their credit were down 22-5 at halftime but rallied superbly in the second half to outscore the home side 12-8 as they scored the final two tries of the contest.
Winger Chappie Albert bagged a try off a chip and chase, while their last try came from Kale Paul.
Talalelei Moli was enormous at number eight, making several strong carries and some crunching hits, while Livingstone Moli was another to shine at first five.
Nic Gordon did a power of work as did fellow loose forward Kees Muller.
