“Being down to 13 men, then 14 for most of the second half really hurt us.
“I’m not saying we would have won but at 10-3 at halftime we were competitive.
“On the face of it, a 50-point loss is a thumping but Wayne (Ensor, co-coach) and I were unbelievably proud of the way the boys kept picking themselves up and making tackles.
“Pera Bishop (prop), Manaia Nyman (lock) and Verdon Bartlett (first five-eighth), in particular, were magnificent.”
Para said Horowhenua came out fired up for the second half and used the extra man to good advantage.
“In the end we were outdone by numbers,” Para said.
The Coast host Buller in Ruatoria on Saturday, with fullback Kris Palmer — who kicked a penalty against Horowhenua Kapiti — a doubtful starter.
“Kris picked up a knock on his knee,” Para said.
“We hope he will be OK but we’ll know more in the next couple of days.”
Howhenua Kapiti moved into second place as a result of the win.
Meanwhile, South Canterbury were made to work hard before beating neighbours North Otago 36-19 in Timaru to retain outright leadership of the competition.
Defending champions Wanganui suffered another loss — 40-39 to Mid Canterbury in Ashburton.
The two teams are now fifth-equal, five points behind South Canterbury. Thames Valley beat King Country 45-36 and Buller beat Wairarapa Bush 29-24.
