YMP player of the day and McDonald's Gisborne Player of the Match loosehead prop Nehe Papuni was superb in a scrummaging effort that produced two tightheads.
YMP captain and hooker Shayde Skudder said: “OBM came out hard at home and scored two early tries, but as a team we knew what we needed to do, and did it. We forwards just put our heads down and did the work for our backs.”
Defending champions OBM chose as player of the day their captain, lock Jacob Cook.
OBM coach Trevor Crosby, a veteran of many rugged games against YMP, said his side played well in the first half and had good patches in the second.
YMP coach Brian Leach spoke of his team's running individually at the OBM defensive line to little effect early on.
The teams went at each other with ball in hand, in the tackle, at the breakdown. The 400 spectators possessed wit, and referee Keelyn Smith and assistant referees Paul Brown and Hugh Fitzgerald showed they had commendably thick skin.
Two minutes before YMP first five-eighth Austin Brown kicked off, the rain started. Nine minutes into the game, OBM loosehead prop Blake Beard got the opening try. His try — and that of fullback Scott McKinley from the restart — were both scored in the left corner, and converted from the touchline by centre Michael Fox for 14-0.
McKinley's try was a gem, similar to that scored by Fox off halfback Braedyn Grant's chip-kick on Oval 2 the previous Saturday against HSOB. This time, following Grant's catch, a fend by No.8 Tom Solomon and hooker Rikki Terekia's retrieval of a loose ball for Fox down the left touch, the centre passed infield to Beard at halfway. Beard then slipped the ball back to Fox, who hared to the 22, and chip-kicked. The ball bounced on the goal-line, up to McKinley.
The remainder of the half featured good play by both teams. OBM flankers Evan Bryant and Nicolas Carrizo were superb at the lineout. YMP, though 14-0 down, were ferocious on the carry and in cleaning out at the ruck.
Their defensive hustle was superbly illustrated when Brown beat Beard, Terekia and right-wing Elijahlee Te Kira to save Terekia's perfectly weighted kick ahead off the right sideline. Made from the 40m mark in YMP's territory, the race to the bouncing ball short of the goal-line was a test of Brown's determination and courage. He was gutsy.
Three minutes before halftime, YMP No.8-cum-blindside flanker Jesse Kapene received a yellow card from referee Smith.
The halfback duel was keenly fought by Grant, and later reserve De-Villa Pirihi-Coutts, and YMP's Tyreke Casey, in whose favour a key line-call went just before halftime at the visitors' scrum, set 15m off the left touch, 11m on their side of halfway.
At halftime the score was 14-0 to OBM and the game picked up where it had left off, in dramatic fashion, with a come-from-behind cover tackle by OBM first-five and “General of the Backs” Jake Holmes on YMP openside flanker Niko Lauti, following a long run by Lauti down the right touch.
In the 56th minute, YMP's quality at a five-metre scrum, reset five metres to the right of OBM's posts, bore fruit. Towering fullback Andrew Tauatevalu scored 15m off the right touch, courtesy of an assist by Casey. Holmes, Grant and OBM fetcher Felix Burns had done all they could in defence.
Though the left-footed Brown did not convert Tauatevalu's try, he did do the honours for left wing Enty Junior Masun a minute later: it took Shayde Skudder's crew just five passes to find the speedster on the sideline at the 22. He scored 15m in from the left touch. Brown's conversion closed the score to 14-12.
YMP scored again in the 61st minute, a pushover try from a five-metre scrum set 10m to the right of OBM's posts. Kapene dotted down for 17-14, YMP's first lead of the match. Brown converted for 19-14.
After 65 minutes' play, OBM were awarded a penalty centrefield, 30m from YMP's posts. Fox further emphasised his value as a goal-kicker with the first penalty goal of the match to close it to 19-17 in YMP's favour.
A crucial play occurred 70 minutes in. YMP were awarded a penalty 20m off the right touch, 15m from OBM's goal-line. The visitors' vice-captain, right wing Te Peehi Fairlie, elected to tap-kick and charged openside to score to make it 24-17.
In the 77th minute, YMP centre Peia Fililava scored the seventh try of a bruising encounter. YMP won a scrum set 15m off the right touch, 10m into OBM territory. Casey went left to powerful second-five Lewis Devery, who found Fililava on the fly with 20m to run. Fililava cut the line 17m in from the corner. Tauatevalu converted for 31-17.
YMP loosehead prop Nehe Papuni and OBM captain Cook may not have featured in try-scoring sequences but their involvement in general play was exceptional. Cook played his core role to a tee, and carried and tackled well.
The effectiveness of Papuni, Skudder, starting tighthead prop Parekura Brown and reserve anchor Axel Campbell at scrum-time was a major factor in YMP's performance.
The OBM lineout, which has improved greatly in the past month, won ball against the throw on Saturday. YMP returned the compliment on occasion.
