The Bay always looked better than Counties in the forward battle but a lack of ruthlessness and too many mistakes kept Counties in the game until late on. Luckily they were missing kicks while Delany was spot on again and kept nailing penalties to keep us 2 scores ahead. Late tries to Hona and Hunt sealed the game and made the victory look slightly more comfortable than it was. Positives - forwards are into everything, dominating at the breakdown, lineout good again, scrambling defence good when Masaga threatened. Negatives - lots of mistakes and too much frenzied play in our own half.

BOP Steamers 32 (Jason Hona 2, Nigel Hunt tries; Mike Delany 5 pens con) Counties Manukau 9 (Josh Hall 3 pens)