From a set-piece that started close to the halfway line, strong runs from prop James Jenkins and others gave HSOB the forward momentum they needed. Numbers on the blindside then gave the space for flanker Sam Middleton to score an easy try, which was converted from close to the left-hand sideline.
A clearing kick that didn’t go out gave HSOB halfback Scott Tallott an opportunity to put in a box kick over the defensive line and into the Ngatapa 22 before the ball rolled over the sideline.
The attack was not over. The lineout was overthrown and recovered by HSOB, before a brilliant display of teamwork and skills between forwards and backs led to lock Fletcher Scammell scoring. HSOB winger Will Hocquard made a strong line-break before offloading to a supporting runner who in turn offloaded the ball in contact before one final offload put Scammell in for a try, which was not converted.
Coach Stephen Hickey’s team responded with a classic Ngatapa try. A strong scrum in the HSOB 22 gave them the base for good front-foot ball. No.8 Alex Chrisp passed to halfback Willy Short, who made a strong run and good metres. Ngatapa then kept the ball in their forwards with a series of pick-and-goes before prop Campbell Chrisp, rumbled over to score their first try and make the score 12-7.
HSOB finished off the first half 17-7 after a strong run from winger TK Reihana set up centre Kory Love to score. Reihana busted through two tackle attempts before offloading to Love, who still had work to do to fight his way over the line for a try.
Ngatapa then started the second half with vigour.
The set piece of a scrum from a penalty inside the 22 led to the ball being held up over the line. In the resulting scrum, Ngatapa tried to use their strength in the forwards to push the ball over before No.8 Chrisp made a dive for the line, only to be held up again.
HSOB withstood the pressure, gaining a penalty for holding on after several try-saving tackles on the line.
HSOB coach Danny Boyle said their strong defence was the turning point for the team.
“The game could have gone either way but our defence was huge,” he said.
“They were camped in our red zone and we defended that. To me, that was the telling part of the game.”
HSOB made their way back up the field, an unforced knock-on from Ngatapa off a clearing kick gifting HSOB the field position to attack.
A dazzling solo effort down the blindside by HSOB winger Hocquard gave the team some breathing space. From seemingly nothing, he made a run down the right-hand side of the pitch, leaving several defenders on their backsides on his way to scoring in the corner, making the score 22-7.
Ngatapa replied with a strong team try that started from a line-break by fullback Ricardo Patricio, when he stepped two defenders and made his way into space before being pulled down.
The strong frontfoot ball and pressure proved too much for HSOB this time, and hooker Ihaia Kerr scored. Receiving the ball in the first receiver spot, Kerr made a run at the line with his supporting player helping to drive him over, making it 22-14.
The game looked headed for a thrilling final 20 minutes when Ngatapa winger Alex Bristow ran on to a perfectly weighted box kick into the HSOB in-goal.
Unfortunately for Ngatapa, he wasn’t able to ground the ball and knocked it on while trying to dive on it to score.
The teams then traded a pair of penalties, Ngatapa taking the points on offer from an offside penalty, closing the gap and needing only one scoring play to win.
The receiver from the restart then found himself isolated and was penalised for holding on, allowing HSOB to respond with three points of their own.
The furious pace of the early part of the game began to show as both teams started running out of gas in a second half that had multiple stoppages for injury.
Ngatapa started getting desperate, looking for 50-50 passes that weren’t there, as time wound down.
Hickey said they were “throwing everything at it” in an impassioned fight to the final whistle.
With only nine seconds left, Ngatapa packed down the final scrum of the game and held on to the ball with a sustained attack. Their doggedness paid off with a final try to reserve Jack Lewis.
Lewis made a break down the left-hand sideline in front of the cheering home supporters enjoying their club day, and broke tackles on his way to securing a losing bonus point for his team.
Hickey said his team were already looking forward to next week, and not dwelling on the loss.
“We’ve just got to put it behind us and come back stronger,” he said.
“Full credit to HSOB . . . at the end of the day it was a good game of rugby and we didn’t come out on the right side of the ledger.”
Boyle said he was happy with the result but felt his team still had room to improve. He gave them “an A-, B+” for this performance.
“It’s very pleasing to see some of the stuff that we’ve been working on in training start to show on the field.”
He spoke highly of his forward pack, including player of the game Matekairoa McGuire at hooker, captain Tamanui Hill at No.8 and blindside flanker Sam Middleton, in his first game in the forwards.
Middleton, who has been playing as a utility back for HSOB, was still learning how to bind on to the scrum during the warm-up.
It didn’t show.
Boyle said Middleton performed exceptionally well and made some excellent tackles.
