The day started off bright and sunny with the Bay kicking off to the wanna-be toffee-pop boys with the backing of a rather stiff Southerly.  Harbour then engaged the interesting tactics of running the ball at every opportunity into the wind, obviously scared that Damien Kaui’s 30+ legs would shred the defence to pieces on the kick return.  In an interesting opening passage of play Harbour managed to rumble the ball up to the 40m mark where they conceded a penalty and Jackson duly converted to give the Bay a 3-0 lead.  Interesting due to the fact that the Bay hadn’t even got their hands on the ball, yet were leading 3-0.

Harbour continued to avoid kicking the ball at all costs, and this combined with the Bay surprisingly good defence gave them an abundance of field position.  Jackson’s as normal had his radar boot on and a steady stream of penalties (as steady as the stream of oaths from a Harbour supporter behind us who at one stage commented that Paddy “Had to take off his shoes to count to ten.” which is interesting, as most normal people have 10 fingers and basic arithmetic would indicate that dear Paddy could keep his shoes on and unaided by the use of his toes use his fingers to count to ten.  No wonder Harbour rugby is in such difficulty.) kept the score ticking over for the Bay. 

Of course, as it is in any Bay game it wasn’t plain sailing, the Bay still struggled to move it’s ever so un-mobile but getting much better forwards to cover the sidelines and the gaping holes left in the blind-side defence combined with some good interchange between forwards and backs gave Troy Flavell a 20m run to score Harbours solitary try.  The Bay then replied with a try of their own (to further curses from our dear Harbour supporter who by now fervently believed that Paddy needed the assistance of his toes to count to ten and who was also becoming a reliable source of mirth and entertainment) to Aleki Lutui who in a typical bruising run crashed over close to the posts to cap off some excellent pick and go work from the BoP pack after a break down the right hand touch-line.  Jackson converted and by now it was a 16-10 lead, a lead the Bay (despite the chronic fears of their supporters and plethora of bad memories) didn’t let go of.  Jackson’s “Let’s keep the BoP in the first division” boot was once again called into play before the end of the half and the Bay went into half time with a handy 19-10 lead.  The wind however did seem to be worth more than 9 points, as adequately displayed when one of my mates said “I don’t think the winds too strong…” *cue Harbour player booting the ball into the air, ball holding up in the breeze, ball actually travelling backward towards the tail end of it’s flight, notch up grand sum of 20m gained* 

The second half began with a hiss and a roar with the Bay forwards storming towards the Harbour line hell bent on proving all us critics wrong, by now the crowd was sensing that this was a slightly different team that the Bay rolled out last year (for a start this lot can not only tackle, but the forwards can actually retain possession – for long periods of time) and when-ever the Bay began to get some go-forward they were cheered on by the ever increasing in hope, if not confidence crowd.  Alas after a break from the nippy half-back Kevin Senio a Bay player was held up over the line, which was the closest that either side got to scoring a try in the second half. 

Glen “By my boot I will continue to keep the Bay in the first division” Jackson continued to play brilliantly into the wind and even into the face of a roaring gale was able to pin Harbour in their own half and clear BoP out of their danger zone time and time again.  Thankfully God was also on our side, as in the second half the wind began to drop, and the rain fell – certainly not helping out the handling in the Harbour back-line, who while continuing to run it at the Bay line seemed ever so reluctant to actually pass the ball to each other, too often the Harbour player went himself and there seemed to be no real effort to create space for the outsides or the support players to work in.  By the time the scoring had gotten underway in the second half, via a penalty to McAlister to close the score to 19-13 one had begun to get the feeling that Harbour had already let the moment pass.  By now how-ever the Bay pack was really humming, securing line-out ball with ease, putting the Harbour scrum under immense pressure and making good meter’s rumbling the ball up the field and doing an admirable job at retaining possession!!  Qudos must go out to the Bay tight 5 who really took control of the game in the second half with the rain pouring down and also to the loose forward trio of Ormond (who looks very big and angry) McMillan and new-comer Nili Latu.  The latter playing outstandingly well in his first run-on NPC game despite copping a very heavy hit in the first minutes of play went on to top the tackle count for the Bay alongside his captain Clayton McMillan and outplay his somewhat more prestigious opposite Craig Newby. 

Another Jackson penalty (accompanied by the loudest cheer for a successful kick at goal that Baypark has ever heard) stretched the lead for the Bay to 21-13 before McAlister in the final scoring act of the match slotted a penalty of his own 5 minutes before the end.  Try as they might Harbour failed to break the notoriously brittle BoP defensive line, thanks mainly to one absolute screamer bootlace tackle by Alan Bunting on Anthony Tuitavake in the closing minutes of play.  Of course the Bay however couldn’t finish the game without giving their supporters a multitude of heart diseases and trauma’s in the final minutes, firstly a penalty goal from 40m out was declined in favour of a not-so-quick tap, which ideally was the worst possible option to take, especially taking into account Jackson’s goal kicking form and the effectiveness of the BoP line-out. In a last minute effort to win the game Harbour broke out of their 22 and amongst the joyous roars of the home crowd knocked the ball on leaving a simple scrum and kick to touch to seal victory for the Bay – and break out into unbridled scenes of delight for the mafia supporters.  For these supporters living through a 4 point win in the Bledisloe to be followed by a 6 point win in the NPC was an exhilarating, if not overly stressful way to spend a weekend, yet gave the warm fuzzy glow that reminds one of truly why rugby is this countries greatest game…