Penalties bury Steamers

Buried under an avalanche of penalties, Bay of Plenty almost managed to claw their way free and snatch an audacious ITM premiership win over Taranaki in New Plymouth last night.
Almost.
A 29-point haul from sensational Taranaki first-five Beauden Barrett ensured the home side held on to win 39-33, consigning the premiership leaders to successive losses.
If winning's a habit then losing can be a nasty mistress too, and Bay of Plenty now find themselves having to regroup for Saturday's showdown against an in-form Hawke's Bay in Rotorua.
Taranaki have jumped to second in the top tier on 19 points, three behind Bay of Plenty are on 22 with two bonus points from last night.
Barrett, a star of New Zealand's World Cup winning under-20 side, nailed nine penalties, beating the old national provincial championship record set by Tasman's Tom Marshall against Bay of Plenty in Blenheim last year.
Steamers lock Leon Power, a Taranaki export who moved to Tauranga this season after finding himself in a logjam of second rowers, said they gave Barrett far too many opportunities in an ill-disciplined 80 minutes.
The eventual penalty count was 15-13 in Taranaki's favour, although Bay gave up nine of those in the first half.
"It seemed like we were being penalised off the park in that first 40," Power said, "and with so many silly penalties nothing seemed to be going our way. They piled on the points but it was our own fault really."
Barrett and Bay first-five Chris Noakes traded early penalties before the Steamers exploded into life with two sensational tries to right wing Lelia Masaga.
Bay counter-attacked from a clearing kick, with wing Ben Smith providing the initial thrust before it was swung wide for Masaga to crash his way over in Jackson Ormond's tackle.
Amazingly, from the kickoff, he went over again, with halfback Jamie Nutbrown's kick spilled by Ormond and Masaga galloping 45m, with Noakes' sideline conversion boosting the lead to 20-6.
But Taranaki hit back, with Bay buckling under the pressure to concede a mountain of penalties, with Barrett finding points from three of them to close the gap to 20-15.
Referee Glen Jackson, less than a minute after he'd warned the Bay that their persistent infringing would be costly, sent flanker Sam Cane to the sin bin, with Taranaki exploiting the numerical advantage, attacking the blindside through Tyson Keats, with 50-game flanker Scott Waldrom laying on a no-look pass behind his back to send No 8 Samuela Vunisa over to lock it up.
Another try, to fullback Kurt Baker with Barrett converting from the sideline, after halftime pushed Taranaki to 27-20
Three more Barrett penalties were matched by one from Dan Waenga, with Bay's persistence and all-out attack was rewarded in a helter-skelter last few minutes. With Waldrom sinbinned for a professional foul, replacement wing Lance MacDonald scurried over before Cane latched onto a cross-field bomb, guaranteeing two bonus points.
But Bay still weren't done attacking, hammering Taranaki's 22 for three minutes after the final hooter before turning over possession, although Power reckons they had a legitimate claim for a penalty.
"That was fairly blatant hands in the ruck at the end but the ref was on the other side - it could have really helped us steal a win.
"We threw everything at them though so to snatch a couple of bonus points after being a long way back with six minutes to go is better than nothing."
Power went the distance last night after Culum Retallick limped off with a leg injury and his season won't end after the ITM Cup, with the 25-year-old picking up a contract to play Super 15 next year across the Tasman with the Brumbies.
Power has lived his entire life in New Zealand but was born in Sydney while his parents were on their OE, qualifying him as a local player.
"I got a call from Jake White (new Brumbies coach) a few days ago, pretty much out of the blue, with an offer.
"I've got nothing else on and my chances of picking up something in New Zealand were remote.
"The Chiefs' locks are all signed and although there was an outside chance of the Highlanders or Hurricanes they'll probably stay local so it's a wicked opportunity."
Last night's scorers:
Taranaki 39 (Kurt Baker, Samuela Vunisa tries; Beauden Barrett 9 pens, con) Bay of Plenty 33 (Lelia Masaga, Lance MacDonald, Sam Cane tries; Chris Noakes 2 pens, 2 cons; Dan Waenga pen). Halftime: 20-20.