Chiefs too strong as Thunderbowl heads north

BY ESTHER LAUAKI

The Wellington Storm American football team was weathered by south Auckland's Manukau Chiefs 24-8 in a bone-crunching clash of North meets South on Saturday.

The annual Thunderbowl at Raroa Park in Johnsonville, now in its 15th year, marked the final game of the season, pitting the winning team from the Auckland club competition against the best from players in Wellington.

Wellington Storm is the regional gridiron team comprised of players from North City Knights, Porirua Giants, Hutt Valley Spartans, Wellington City Wolves and the Linton Turbines from Palmerston North.

Although the loss was disappointing for the Storm, defensive co-ordinator David Taua'i said they had a good game.

"The defence worked as hard as they could and it took a while for the offence to get started, so that didn't work in our favour."

This was the first time the two teams had met in the Thunderbowl competition with Wellington looking for a win after a three-year losing streak.

"We worked well with what we had. I was happy with how our defence played, we only got scored off twice which is a good result," Taua'i said.

Standout performances for the Storm came from local players, safety Bong Chong and running back Andrew Tiatia of North City Knights, the winning team from Wellington's Capital Bowl.

- Kapi-Mana News