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Bay bolt into Cup quarterfinals |
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Written by Kelly Exelby
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Monday, 25 September 2006 |
 BAY of Plenty have bullied their way into the quarterfinals of the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup _ and the good news is 50-game veteran Simms Davison has promised to put away the kicking boots for the remainder of the season.
The Steamers roared to the top of their repechage pool after thumping a spineless Hawke's Bay 35-7 at Te Maunga's Blue Chip Stadium last night.
Bay banged 25 points on the board in a wind-assisted first half before they faced the elements after halftime. They had no worries adding another 10 points after the break to end up clear winners of the Pool A repechage showdown.
The Steamers gave themselves an unbeatable 10 points at the top of the repechage pool and, coupled with a positive points differential of 57, have confirmed a quarterfinal spot with a week to spare.
They should go through into the top eight with maximum points considering they have Manawatu in Palmerston North next Thursday night.
The Steamers blitzed the breakdown and set piece, with their march to the outright lead of the pool helped when Magpies hooker Danny Logan spent 10 minutes in the bin for a dangerous tackle.
Referee Jonathon White yellow-carded him in the 20th minute for upending flanker Warren Smith.
No damage was done but Logan's teammates struggled in his absence as the Steamers' 3-0 lead blew out by two converted tries from lineout drives.
Davison, marking a half-century of games for Bay of Plenty, was on the tail end of a drive three minutes after Logan's exit and the ploy worked a treat _ practically from the restart _ though the ball was spread wide for pivot Murray Williams to scoot over.
Davison, whose attempted conversion of replacement halfback Garrick Cowley's injury-time try skewed wide _ providing a stark reminder of why frontrowers shouldn't be allowed near a kicking tee _ said it was brilliant to bring up the milestone with what he rated as the side's best win of the season.
``I said to the boys they needed to get out there tonight and play for each other before they worried about doing anything else. That was just awesome, great to be part of and to get a dot [try] capped it off.
``It reminded me a lot of some of the good wins we've had over the past three or four years, even if, looking around the changing room before the game, I was the only one left from my first game back in 2002.''
Last night's win was Bay's fifth in succession and Davison, a two-season Super 14 Chiefs representative, has noticed a significant shift in energy. ``This year we've lacked a bit of feeling or oomph at times. We've seemed to have all the flashy players and moves but have maybe lacked a bit of guts in behind it to back it up.
``Today I felt that [guts]. We showed it in patches against Counties and we're definitely building some momentum toward whatever the quarterfinal draw throws at us.''
Left wing Charles Baxter continued his try trot against the Magpies when he ghosted into the backline late in the first half.
Led superbly again by their tight five _ Davison, Ben Castle, John Pareanga, Mark Sorenson and Aaron Rameka _ Bay's loosies had a field-day, with Colin Bourke, Smith and Tanerau Latimer reigning supreme at the ruck.
Steamers wing Lance MacDonald snagged the bonus-point try after an incisive break by halfback Jamie Nutbrown, with the Magpies finally finding favour from the match officials when replacement prop Fakaa'nalua Taumolo was awarded a try despite neither White nor the television match official seeing the ball grounded.
A disappointed Magpies coach Brendon Ratcliffe was harsh in his summation of the game. ``We hardly fired a shot and submitted in the first half, which is unacceptable. This was pretty much our final for the season.''
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