Don’t you hate those sports fans who whine about referees, complaining about this decision and that decision and how it is all so unfair? If you want to retain your respect for the Fan in the Stand (assuming you had any to start with) please do not read the following paragraph.

How did the referee miss a clear knock-on by Hawke’s Bay in their final attack of the game? All their players were offside at those final rucks. Yellow card for Bourke and no card for Taumalolo?

Anyway, that previous paragraph is greatly toned down from my thoughts immediately after the game which could not have been printed in a family newspaper. To have a crucial victory snatched away like that was hard to take for the committed fan. However I am not suggesting that we deserved to win the game. Our scrum was in reverse gear all night and our lineout was as dysfunctional as the All Blacks on a bad day.

Any review of Friday’s game need only focus on 2 Steamers players as everything that happened revolved around Bourke and Delany.

Bourke managed to be both saint and sinner in the same passage of play, firstly rushing over to stop a certain try in the corner and then being given a yellow card on the recommendation of Bryce Lawrence (no Bay bias there from Bryce!). Down to 14 men, we were lucky to concede only penalties and a 9-6 half-time deficit.

In the second half, Bourke turned to provider, slicing through the line and then floating up a pass for Delany to hit at pace and drive over the try line. Now with a lead to defend, we hung on grimly. Delany managed to convince Dagg he was about to be tackled and still gave himself enough time to get across and tackle Shoemark, a brilliant piece of defensive work. Next it was Bourke turning over and holding up the massive Taumalolo over the tryline.

Taumalolo’s cynical action off the ball gave us the penalty to take a 4 point lead but not the yellow card it deserved. If he had dropped a shoulder to someone carrying the ball, he would probably have seen red. Bourke was then involved in the final passage of play, having the ball stripped from him to set up the crossfield kick.

Now the maths gets much easier for the mighty Bay. Win every game. Bonus points would be nice but three wins from three should still be enough to make the semis. Easier said than done though with a trip to North Harbour on Saturday night. Harbour has nothing to lose and will be dangerous, especially if we are careless with our setpieces and possession. Go the Bay.