“The boys thoroughly deserved it. Both coaches were away all week with Covid so we had to step up and Saturday's result was the perfect way to finish our season.
He highlighted the performance of flanker Zane Boyle.
“He played out of his skin.”
HSOB set up camp early in the Pirates half and went ahead in the 10th minute with a try to lock Daniel Tamanui, who ran through four players to get over the line.
Otherwise the Pirates defence was staunch in the first half — shutting out an onslaught of HSOB attacks.
The second half was a different story.
Hill scored in the 44th minute and centre Cory Reihana slotted his second of five successful conversions to put them 14-0 ahead.
Just two minutes later, HSOB ran the ball from inside their own half, it was offloaded to halfback Bryan Howard who beat a defender and went over for the try.
Pirates stayed committed and were rewarded in the 56th minute when centre Solomoni Rasari took a quick tap from a penalty five metres out and forced his way over.
HSOB got back to work and put Pirates under pressure with multiple phases on attack but couldn't crack them open. The dam finally burst in the last 10 minutes as HSOB ran in tries to Howard, flanker Fletcher Scammell and winger Marshall Jones.
Pirates captain Bernard Nepe praised his team.
“I'm definitely proud every time we get a team on the field, regardless of the results,”
“Everyone seems positive heading into next year and we're hoping a few of our senior ones want to come up to the premier grade.
“We're looking forward to rebuilding during the off-season and hopefully give it a decent crack next year.”
