BOP still unbeaten, despite scare
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:16
Despite crowd support of 14,200 at Okara Park, Northland went down 10-15 to the unbeaten Bay of Plenty (BOP) in their Air New Zealand (NZ) Cup clash in Whangerei on Friday.
Following Northland's axing from the Air New Zealand Cup, the 'Save our Side' campaign did much to address woeful crowd attendance in recent seasons.
Whether it will have any impact on the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) reversing its recommendation remains to be seen. Nonetheless, Northland started the match strongly, lurking in the BOP half thanks to the boot of David Holwell.
However, the pressure eased on BOP when Northland lost possession on the BOP try-line, which prompted a period of counter-attacking from the visitors.
Nigel Hunt and Lance MacDonald made telling breaks for the visitors, while their forwards began to impress. BOP opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a Mike Delany penalty.
Northland hit back after a turnover on the BOP goal-line, with Holwell regathering to score. He converted his try to give the home side a 7-3 lead.
Northland began to grow in confidence, putting pressure on BOP and forcing them to make mistakes thanks to a series of impressive tactical kicks from Holwell and scrumhalf James Rodley.
Some poor defence from Northland in the 30th minute however proved costly, giving Joe Savage a soft try off a line-out. Delany was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt, but the visitors enjoyed an 8-7 lead at the break.
Northland showed good composure from the restart, but failed to turn territory and possession into points.
Again terrible Northland defence saw BOP score their second try - this time wing Lance MacDonald strolling over untouched - which Delany converted.
Holwell managed to close the gap with a penalty in the 53rd minute, leaving the score at 15-10.
Nothland proceeded with some impressive periods of play, and had a great attacking opportunity in the 72nd minute, but were unable to make the final pass to a hungry Vainikolo with the try-line beckoning.
Northland had all the ascendancy in the final 10 minutes, but BOP's defence remained sound, repelling repeated committed attacks as the Taniwha sought an upset win.
Scorers:
For Northland:
Try: Holwell
Con: Holwell
Pen: Holwell
Bay of Plenty:
Tries: Savage, MacDonald
Con: Delany
Pen: Delany
Teams:
Northland: 15 Jared Payne, 14 Rene Ranger, 13 Aiden Dewes, 12 Leo Taliu, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 David Holwell, 9 James Rodley, 8 Blair Urlich, 7 Hamish Patterson, 6 Justin Collins (captain), 5 Marty Veale, 4 Dan Goodwin, 3 Bronson Murray, 2 Tyler Ashworth, 1 Tony Coughlan.
Replacements: 16 Francis Smith, 17 Justin Davies, 18 Roy Griffin, 19 Joel McKenty, 20 Kaino Kaino, 21 Derek Carpenter, 22 Damien Fakafanua.
Bay Of Plenty: 15 Zar Lawrence, 14 Lance MacDonald, 13 Cory Aporo, 12 Nigel Hunt, 11 Jason Hona, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Jamie Nutbrown, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Tanerau Latimer (captain), 6 Solomon King, 5 Culum Rettalick, 4 John Moore, 3 James McGougan, 2 John Pareanga, 1 Joe Savage.
Replacements: 16 Dean Elmiger, 17 Arden David-Perrot, 18 Aiden Kuka, 19 Luke Braid, 20 Josh Hall, 21 Pauli Asaeli, 22 Teu Nafe.
Referee: Chris Pollock
TMO: Ben Skeen
