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Bay of Plenty have staged an impressive comeback to beat North Harbor and secure their place in the semi-finals of the Miter 10 Cup.
The Steamers found themselves trailing 21-0 in their decisive final round competition at the Tauranga Domain on Sunday, but were left with 37-33 winners to seal third place and a trip to face Tasman in the semifinals on Sunday. next weekend, a year after getting the promotion. of the championship.
A failed Bryn Gatland conversion from handy range left Harbor, who had comfortably already racked up the bonus point attempt they needed, down by a point with five minutes left, then a huge ruck win from his opponent, Otere Black. , left Steamers fullback Kaleb Trask to lay down a big penalty with time almost up.
Harbor will now depend on Canterbury not beating Auckland in Christchurch on Sunday night, to avoid relegation in this hugely congested premiership.
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This was a battle between two of the form teams. The Steamers had started the season 1-5 but then conjured a four-game winning streak, while Harbor was equally slow starting at 0-3 before winning five of their next six.
A Bay of Plenty win, bonus points or not, would put them in third place, while Harbor had to win with a bonus point to be third. A win without the bonus would have put them on par with Wellington and Waikato, and potentially Canterbury, but having lost to all three during the season, they would have ranked behind them in the tiebreaker rules.
And with that, they established their stalemate early by kicking for the corner, and Luteru Tolai made his sixth attempt of the season, all of which came from lineup units.
The Steamers spoiled a short-range first golden lineout thanks to Kurt Eklund’s scion shot, and things got even worse for them soon after, when they found themselves back on their own end and Harbor winger Tomas Aoake seized. pulled in the left corner. hot on the heels of his own good.
But if 14-0 down wasn’t bad enough, by the fourth mark the Steamers were really looking down the barrel at 21-0 behind and down a man, after Harbor hit another corner penalty, he drove hard again, then made referee Richard Kelly award a penalty try and no bin Eklund for knocking down the maul.
The hosts took the board in the 24th minute from Trask’s start, then, with his full complement restored, it was Eklund who made some sort of amendment when, at the back of a starting line, he passed for his first attempt eight. minutes before the break.
However, it was to improve even more for the Steamers, with the impressive effort of winger Joe Webber in the 36th minute, where he jumped to pick up a high ball and then produced a magical run on the left touch.
Suddenly, it was just 21-15 at halftime, with the home team turning to play with the wind.
However, Harbor started the second half in exactly the same way the first started, a five-minute exit attempt by Tolai, thanks again to the precise work of Gatland, who hit the penalty kick right in the corner.
However, the Bay of Plenty wasn’t leaving, and just when it seemed like they had wasted their chance to strike back, they conjured up two attempts in two minutes before the hour mark.
First, Webber and Trask were instrumental in what was ultimately an impressive barge from the Jeff Thwaites pillar, then Black and Trask joined in on the counterattack and winger Emoni Narawa put in a sensational effort with the right touch to turn it into one. . -Game of points.
Trask’s 67th minute penalty from inside his own half landed near the crossbar, but the momentum was all with Bay of Plenty, and after a dangerous run moments before, it was replacement Regan Ware who created another bit of magic. with his fine footwork. and set up backup hooker Nathan Vella to charge and give the hosts the lead for the first time in the game, with 10 minutes to go.
Not to be outdone, Harbor backup hooker Zane Turner also went over the line, as the visitors made another attempt from his starting line.
But it was the Steamers who broke into the house.
TAKE A LOOK
Bay of Plenty 37 (Kurt Eklund, Joe Webber, Jeff Thwaites, Emoni Narawa, Nathan Vella tries it; Kaleb Trask 3 scam, 2 pens) North port 33 (Luther Tolai 2, Tomas Aoake, Zane Turner attempts, attempted penalty; Bryn Gatland 3 with). HT: 15-21.
MVP Points: Joe Webber 3, Shaun Stevenson 2, Kaleb Trask 1.