On a sodden Lansdowne Park in Blenheim, the Bay of Plenty Steamers got the start to the Air New Zealand Cup against Tasman that they wanted, albeit by a solitary point.

The Thursday (31 July 2008) night game was up for grabs at the half time break, with the home side holding a narrow 7-5 lead. The first thirty minutes, was a seesaw affair with both teams making inroads into the opposition territory, without success.

After thirty-one minutes, Tasman opened the scoring with a converted try. The reply from the Steamers came with just two minutes left on the clock in the first half. After getting with ten metres of the try line - a forward push over the line saw John Pareanga awarded the touchdown.

The second half became a real arm-wrestle, with players from both sides having difficulty gaining momentum on the run. A good kicking game from the Steamers saw much of the second spell played in the Tasman half.

With seven minutes remaining on the clock, a Tasman mistake resulted in Mike Delany taking the penalty goal attempt. The kick went straight as a bullet to give the Bay the lead for the first time in the encounter.

Good defense, and some attacking play in the dying minutes of the match, saw the Steamers hold on to take out the match 8-7. In spite of the saturated field, both teams played with plenty of skill, with the one point margin reflecting a match, which was up for grabs throughout.

The half back/first five combination of Jamie Nutbrown and Mike Delany was outstanding in the conditions. Steamers hooker John Paeranga had an grand game with the rest of the forwards playing plenty of go forward rugby. A significant factor to emerge from the game was that the Steamers played with the pride of old to reinforce the theme of Bay Proud.

Bay of Plenty Steamers 8 (John Pareanga try, Mike Delany pen) Tasman 7