Skipper and blindside flanker Dan Law went left off the ruck and was held out, but a second effort saw loosehead prop Campbell Chrisp go over.
Centre Ricardo Patricio converted the try for 7-0.
In the 18th minute, OBM responded with yeomanry. Given a penalty 5m from Ngatapa’s goal-line, Terekia opted to tap kick and fire a long pass to his right. The visitors, camped beneath the posts, probed for a hole twice before loosehead prop Shaquaid Hihi scored.
Halfback Cruz Hinaki kicked OBM’s only goal of the day to level the score 7-all.
A lot of hard rugby was played without a change to the score before halftime.
OBM broke the deadlock in the 46th minute. They claimed a tighthead from a scrum 10m from the Ngatapa goal-line and bucketed down the short side, with outstanding young fetcher Keanu Taumata scoring 6m in from the corner flag.
In the 49th minute, OBM were penalised for offside play on their 22 and Patricio landed the kick to close the deficit to 12-10.
After 55 minutes, OBM were awarded a penalty 5m from the hosts’ goal-line near the left touch. They tapped and ran down the narrow blind and shortly after, referee Brown awarded a penalty try — the instant seven points increasing OBM’s advantage to 19-10.
Patricio kicked a 30m centrefield penalty in the 67th minute to cut it to 19-13 but OBM put the game to bed in the 73rd minute.
Awarded a penalty 5m from Ngatapa’s goal-line, Terekia again tapped and charged. He was brought down within centimetres of glory, as was hard-working lock Jordan Kingi after him, but there was no stopping Taumata, who completed his double to seal victory.
Kingi and second-row partner Harawira Kahukura are unsung heroes for OBM. Kingi is a tremendously enthusiastic and busy player, who gets around the park, while Kahukura is a solid lineout option.
The same is true of McDell, the Laws — Dan and older brother and lock Grant — for Ngatapa.
On an excellent surface, both sets of backs wanted to run but neither team would let the other break away.
When a given ball-carrier did slip his man, another one or two tacklers would bundle him up.
OBM thrive on hard work and while Ngatapa have only two wins to their name, their betters on Saturday never took them lightly.
OBM head coach Clint Pirihi and his management team, who are second on the table headed by Waikohu, take no team for granted.
