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MAFIA TEES
Just $20 a shirt, a steal!
Not often you steal from the Mafia and live to tell the tale...
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Steamers hang on for victory |
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Written by Craig Tiriana
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Friday, 26 September 2008 |
For 36 minutes last night, the Bay of Plenty Steamers were romping towards a home quarterfinal in the Air New Zealand Cup.
With halfback Ruki Tipuna and wing Jason Hona finding holes all over the Southland defence, Bay of Plenty were impressive in a lively first-half performance that saw them lead 21-3 inside 25 minutes.
At stake was a probable home quarterfinal for the winners of a clash between two teams locked in fourth place coming into the match.
The Steamers then had to withstand a powerhouse finish from the visitors, who dominated territory for large chunks of the game but were often let down by poor handling or option-taking.
Both teams scored three tries but a four-from-four goalkicking display by first five-eighth Mike Delany proved important.
Not for the first time this season, however, the Steamers let the opposition back into the match with shabby tackling.
It allowed Southland three tries and a chance at stealing the game and left the Steamers dependant on other results to secure a quarterfinal hosting spot.
Southland teenager Robbie Robinson, who switched from fullback to first-five in the second half, narrowly missed with a 30m drop kick with three minutes to play. It was the breathing space the Steamers needed - replacement first-five Kelly Haimona put a booming drop-out into the Southland half, the forwards won a turnover and then wrapped up the ball and ran down the clock for the final minutes, leaving the final score 24-22 to the home side.
Steamers coach Kevin Schuler said the major mission of the night had been accomplished.
"The first thing we wanted was the win although obviously the bonus point would've been nice," he said. While the Steamers made the most of their advantage with the wind in the first spell, it was their discipline which allowed them to hold on for the narrow win in the second.
Southland spent all but a few minutes deep inside Steamers territory and while they got across the tryline, they didn't earn one straight armed penalty which they could turn into the match winning penalty goal.
The win pushes the Steamers into outright fourth on the table with the remainder of the teams still to play this weekend.
They're currently three points ahead of fifth-placed Southland and one point from third-placed Hawke's Bay. Southland has second-placed Canterbury next week while the Steamers play the Magpies in Napier.
Schuler is well aware that game is anything but a dead rubber with either third, fourth or fifth spot still a possibility for the Steamers. "The five points might have helped us tonight but we can't afford to get ahead of ourselves. It's probably better we have got to go down to Napier with something on the line."
Last night's win kept the Steamers' unbeaten run intact at Baypark this season and saw prop James McGougan and reserve back Haimona play their blazer-earning 15th matches.
Delany also went to the top of the Air New Zealand Cup points-scorers with a perfect four from four haul of nine points, taking his total to 76, five in front of Southland's Blair Stewart.
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Steamers 2010 |
| : ITM Cup |
| Position: 8 |
| 31 July: Waikato, L 10-13 |
| 6 Aug: Hawke's Bay, W 30-11 |
| 14 Aug: Auckland L 6-11 |
| 20 Aug: Taranaki, L 15-24 |
| 29 Aug: Harbour, W 39-29 |
| 3 Sep: Canterbury, Away |
| 9 Sep: Manawatu, Baypark |
| 19 Sep: Counties, Baypark |
| 24 Sep: Otago, Rotorua |
| 30 Sep: Wellington, Away |
| 10 Oct: Tasman, Away |
| 16 Oct: Southland, Baypark |
| 21 Oct: Northland, Away |
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