Baywide defending champs Te Puke Sports seem well and truly over their form lapse from last month and proved too strong for a combative Te Puna outfit under the lights at Murray Salt Stadium on Friday night.
The 29-12 victory was never in doubt and Te Puna scored in the final play of the game to close the scoreline with the bizarre sight of two Te Puke Sports players in the sin bin.
Referee Jamie Bell handled the minor incidents well and the game was played in good spirit by both teams.
The cold night and heavy dew meant handling was at a premium and it was the home side that scored first through winger Junior Tofa-Va'a after he latched on to a smart kick into the in-goal by fullback Carlos Savage.
Te Puke scored again inside 10 minutes through in-form hooker Nathan Harris from a lineout drive set up by Simon Rolleston's outstanding touch finder from a penalty. Rolleston slotted the conversion from the touchline for a 12-0 lead.
Te Puna struggled to get their hands on the ball and when they did they turned it over too easily. They had their chances on attack with Bay of Plenty midfielder Lance MacDonald and fullback Paul Tietjens looking sharp.
The score stayed the same until halftime and there was plenty of fire in the halftime message for Te Puna as they started the second spell with more aggression. They finally put phases together to put Te Puke under pressure but could not turn their efforts into points.
Rolleston kicked a penalty to increase the lead to 15-0 before Te Puna scored the try of the match through Tapene Mika.
MacDonald started the play with a jinking run 70 metres out from Te Puke's line and he gave the final pass to put Mika in.
But any thoughts of Te Puna threatening to win the game evaporated a minute later when winger Gideon Uelese scored after yet another fine ball carry by hooker Harris. Tofa-Va'a then sprinted away to score from halfway to finish off the gallant Te Puna boys who finished the game strongly - with a two-man advantage.
Harris was the standout player for Te Puke in a fine team effort and is pleased with his team's return to form.
"Te Puna are a big, strong and hard-hitting pack so we did a lot of work at the break down to dominate the collision. They were pretty physical right to the last minute so they kept us on our toes," Harris said. "We have been doing some team bonding work after those two losses we had and it is paying off and that helped us when we had two in the bin."
Harris believes Te Puke are peaking at the right time and they have not given up hope on achieving their goal of a three-peat of titles. "It definitely could still be our year. Hopefully we can be in their in the semis and anything can happen then."
Bayfair Baywide rugby results, June 1
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