Jessica Pease and Halafihi combined again for Halafihi to score her second try, 10-7, Poverty Bay at the break.
Whatever coach Chris Neil said worked as Poverty Bay started the second half with more intensity.
Hawke’s Bay then had a player yellow carded and Poverty Bay took advantage, with Elizabeth Goulden scoring,15-7.
Hawkes Bay closed the gap with an unconverted try with three minues left on the clock the score 15-12.
“Hawke’s Bay launched an all-out attack and broke the defence line only for the attacker to be caught five metres from the line by Halafihi, who kicked the ball into touch, as the hooter sounded,” Lamont said.
“But the ref said there was still two seconds left and with their last play Hawke’s Bay scored the winning try.
“The Taranaki match was a similar start with them taking a 7-0 lead, before we hit back through Honey Momomoko after good work from Halafihi captain Renee Holmes and Goulden.”
Pease won the restart and the Bay created a hole for Mokomoko to go though with Halafihi following in support she offloaded to Pease who scored under the posts. Goulden added the conversion.
Taranaki hits backTaranaki hit back with a converted try to lead 14-12 with eight seconds left in the half.
“Halafihi made another fine break up the left hand side of the field, only to be tackled by some desperate Taranaki defence, but we recycled the ball.
“A great cut by Holmes put Mokomoko away for her second try, converted by Goulden to give us the lead, 19-14 at the break,” said Lamont.
The Bay stretched the lead through Goulden after good play by Azalleyah Maaka and Pease.
Taranaki hit back with a try but the Bay held on for a tremendous win.
“Emotions were high, as we were close to qualifying for the nationals, but we still had to play high-flying Manawatu,” said Lamont.
“They had a star studded line up that included current and former Black Ferns and with so much talent and experience on hand Black Fern Sarah Goss was running the water for the team.
“This game showed the Bay that to go to the next level you really need to up your game as Manawatu won 53-0.”
Advancement to the nationals now depended on how well Taranaki did against Hawke’s Bay.
“If Taranaki won and beat Hawke’s Bay by 10 points or more then Poverty Bay would miss out. But it wasn’t to be as Hawke’s Bay won the game convincingly.”
Men’s coach Dwayne Russell remains positive despite his side not winning a game — finishing bottom in a pool that included Wellington, Manawatu and Horowhenua Kapita
“Some would be disappointed with results over the weekend but we hung in for long periods against quality opposition,” Russell said.
“We had notable performances by our captain Siosiua Moala, Keegan Lewis and Korey Love with glimpses of brilliance from Andrew Tauatevalu, Quade Tapsell and James Grogan and Austin Brown.”
“Viliami Kavai, Kupu Lloyd, Fawn White, Deni Caucau, Waisea Yabakivou also contributed and we couldn’t fault their effort.”
The Bay lost all three pool games.
“Mentally it was a huge learning curve for our young team,” said Russell.
