Second-half recovery almost steals Te Puna's win Maramatanga, translated literally, means comprehension.
So it would be fair to say the second half of the Baywide premier game between Whakarewarewa and Te Puna was almost beyond maramatanga.
Whaka travelled to Te Puna desperate to keep their hopes of another Baywide final alive.
It seemed the dream was set to end at the hands of a fired-up Te Puna side, with a halftime score 13-3 to the home team. But Whaka put on a run-it from-anywhere second-half spell to almost steal the win away from Te Puna, who eventually escaped with a narrow 39-32 victory.
From the start the Rotorua side didn't look as if they were there to play - as they kicked off the chase appeared lackadaisical, with Whaka spending the first half dropping off tackles and letting Te Puna get over the advantage line too easily.
Te Puna fullback Daryl Houia got his side's point scoring under way five minutes into the half, with a relatively easy penalty from 30m out. He was soon converting Lance MacDonald's try five minutes later, before kicking another penalty at the 19-minute mark.
The game ebbed and flowed, with neither team really looking dominant. Whaka's Maurice Stone kicked a 42m penalty 10 minutes from the break but, when referee Bryce Lawrence blew the whistle for halftime, not too many around the park were expecting what would unfold in the second spell.
After the break it was clear Whaka coach Kevin Lee had given his team a licence to run the ball back at Te Puna. Which they did, running it from deep inside their 22m and firing the ball out to the flanks at any opportunity.
But the visitors were punished for not getting to the breakdown quick enough when the ball was turned over and charging replacement forward Hautonga Connell barged over the line for the second of his team's four tries.
Whaka opened their try scoring account five minutes later with a solid forward rolling maul and big Peter "Boxer" Smith barrelling over.
Stone was successful with the conversion but Te Puna raced away to a 25-10 lead after Houia converted a try by first five-eighths Te Aihe Toma.
The game appeared to be out of reach when Houia extended the lead to 28-10 from a penalty but Whaka have never been a team to not die trying and their backs went into overdrive.
Stone started to find half gaps outside his man through either his jinking runs or firing a pass wide to get his outside backs into some space.
The hard work paid off with Stone picking up his team's second try, which he couldn't convert. But he was able to convert their third try, scored by Rawiri Tapiata.
Tapiata who was returning from a hamstring injury was a constant menace and was unlucky not to score a second try.
However, Houia kicked another penalty to push the score out to 31-22, before Stone responded with a penalty of his own to make it 31-25.
When Whaka were penalised for not releasing the ball, Houia kicked his fifth penalty to make it 34-25.
The homeside supporters started to believe their team might have stamped out the last of the Whaka resistance.
But Chris Miller again showed why Bay selectors are looking at him, with his low centre of gravity and his ability to break out of tackles he constantly found gaps in the Te Puna defence.
He was rewarded for his effort with Whaka's last try, which Stone converted.
With a high-risk game plan and Whaka playing on referee's time, they threw everything at the home side. But it was not to be. With both sides run off their feet and the ball in Te Puna's possession, Houia broke the tackle of a couple of tired defenders to race to the corner to seal the victory 39-32.
In other matches in the division, competition leaders Te Puke Sports escaped from Opotiki with an 11-10 win.
Tauranga Sports, who sit second on the points table, were beaten by Rangataua at Te Ariki Park 14-12, which means Rangataua are now safe from relegation with two rounds remaining.
Rotoiti had a solid win against Mount Maunganui with a four try 22-11 win at Emery Park. Waikite's woeful season continued with a 53-8 loss to Greerton Marist.
In division one, Ngongotaha continued their late resurgence when they played Eastern Bay side Poroporo at the Ngongotaha Domain.
The 32-15 Ngongotaha win cemented their place in the top four. Marist St Michaels won the battle over Whakatane Marist 25-20 in Rotorua. Paroa were too strong for Kahukura, winning 39-17, and Te Teko steam-rolled Ruatoki 58-7, with Rangiuru winning by default.
Scorers; Te Puna 39 (Lance MacDonald, Hautonga Connell, Te Aihi Toma, Daryl Houia tries; Daryl Houia 2 con, 5 pen) Whakarewarewa 32 (Peter Smith, Maurice Stone, Rawiri Tapiata, Chris Miller tries; M Stone 3 con, 2 pen). Halftime: 13-3.