Taranaki Ace Counties
Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:10
Fullback Ace Malo and flyhalf Willie Ripia combined to secure Taranaki a much-needed 13-all draw against Counties-Manukau in New Plymouth on Friday, a result which kept the amber and blacks in the hunt for the Air New Zealand play-offs.
Malo denied Counties a deserved victory when he tumbled and spun his way over the line after the hooter for full-time had already sounded. Ripia then added the conversion from out wide to tie the game up.
The fullback, Malo, had earlier botched a golden opportunity. However, flank Scott Waldrom provided the late spark and this time Malo made no mistake - even though the call first went top the television match official before being confirmed as a try.
Handling errors were a problem for both teams, despite the good conditions in the first half.
Counties flyhalf Tasesa Lavea produced a fine performance to control the fortunes of his team, often turning Taranaki back into their own 22m area in the last 10 minutes.
Taranaki got out of the blocks the quickest, but despite strong runs from wing Shayne Austin, No.8 Taiasina Tuifua and centre Jayden Hayward, they simply could not open their account.
It took a Ripia penalty in the 11th minute to break the deadlock.
Counties inside centre Dean Cummins levelled matter in the 20th minute with a penalty of his own.
The first try, by Counties, came on the half-hour when No.8 Fritz Lee went over - following a quick tap from a free-kick, which saw Lavea open up space for Lee.
Penalties by Ripia and Cummins saw the score move on to 13-6 and try as they might, Taranaki could not create a scoring move - until the dying seconds.
Taranaki's two points from the game took them to 21 after nine rounds and it opened the door slightly for teams such as Waikato - who beat Otago 39-10 in Hamilton - Auckland and Tasman to nudge past with one round to go.
Taranaki play Waikato in their final preliminary league fixture next week and with 23 points being last year's benchmark to make the top eight, they would need at least two points from that game.
The scorers:
For Counties Manukau:
Try: Lee
Con: Cummins
Pens: Cummins 2
For Taranaki:
Try: Malo
Con: Ripia
Pens: Ripia 2
Teams:
Counties Manukau: 15 Koiatu Koiatu, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Siale Piutau, 12 Dean Cummins, 11 Sherwin Stowers, 10 Tasesa Lavea (captain), 9 Kevin Farrell, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 DJ Forbes, 6 Rupeni Nasiga, 5 Andrew Van der Heijden, 4 Jamie Chipman, 3 Tuaefe Palelei, 2 Lance Po-ching, 1 Simon Lemalu.
Replacements: 16 Ilaisa Maasi, 17 Kojak Faioso, 18 Gary Saifoloi, 19 Mark Selwyn, 20 Samisoni Fisilau, 21 Jason Roache, 22 Tanner Vili.
Taranaki: 15 Asalemo Malo,
14 Paul Perez, 13 Nathan Hohaia, 12 Jayden Hayward, 11 Shayne Austin, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Brett Goodin; 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Chris Walker, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Hamish Mitchell, 2 Laurence Corlett, 1 Tony Penn (captain).
Replacements: 16 James Annabell, 17 Shane Cleaver, 18 Leon Power, 19 Nemia Soqeta, 20 Brendan Haami, 21 Isaia Tuifua, 22 Jack Cameron.
Referee: Keith Brown
TMO: Brent Murray
