The first try was to winger Te Peehi Farlie, who burrowed his way to the line as the team inched forward in a series of pick-and-go moves.
The second was a brilliant individual effort from YMP's captain, hooker Shayde Skudder, who generated a gap for himself by bumping off two tackle attempts before surging to the line.
Ngatapa opened their scoring soon after with two tries of their own.
Hooker Ihaia Kerr took the ball as first receiver from a tap-and-go, and found his way to the line with support at his back giving him the momentum he needed to break the YMP line and score.
YMP's discipline let them down, and the second try highlighted the issues the team had, particularly with offside.
Their coach, Brian Leach, said their indiscipline let Ngatapa into the game.
Every Ngatapa try had a penalty in its build-up, and they took full advantage of the constant stream of infringements.
Ngatapa coach Stephen Hickey said the pressure his team put on YMP was what forced the infractions at the breakdown. The penalty count wasn't the “be-all and end-all”, he said. They still needed to get over the line themselves.
And that's what Ngatapa fullback Jack Lewis did off a quick tap-and-go.
As Ngatapa mounted a strong counter-attack into their opponents' 22, YMP were penalised for offside. Lewis caught them off guard, taking the ball and stepping inside to change his line, beating the defence and scoring.
Both teams finished the half strongly.
YMP winger Jeremy Ferris cruised over for a try after his team kept the ball in tight and drew in the outside defences before spreading it wide.
Ngatapa's Kerr ended the half with his second try of the game. Ngatapa kept the ball in tight and worked it through the forwards and one-off runners. Kerr received the ball and brushed off the YMP defence, which went too high as he muscled his way over the line.
YMP led 19-17 at the break.
The second half was much the same, with tit-for-tat action as both teams tried to get the upper hand.
The first try of the second half went to YMP flanker Niko Lauti, who took the ball to the line to score while his team lined up outside him.
Ngatapa then levelled the score with a try in the corner after a series of pick-and-go moves got them close before they piled over the line in a heap of bodies.
As the dust settled, reserve front-rower Atonio Walker-Leawere came up with the ball and was awarded the first of his three tries.
YMP's response was an excellent individual effort from Devery, who took the ball as first receiver as his team worked the ball from right to left. He received the ball at a jog, but it was an illusion and he showed his pace, punching a hole through a gap in the defence and pulling Ngatapa defenders over the line with him.
Walker-Leawere then scored his second try for Ngatapa at the end of a steady rumble up the middle from the green-and-white forward pack, highlighting their strength in close.
With the scores level, it was anyone's game going into the final 15 minutes.
Ngatapa took the bull by the horns and scored twice to take their tally to 43.
The first try, to reserve front-rower Todd Harris, was off a maul.
Harris controlled the ball in the back of the maul off a lineout, and as the YMP forward pack splintered under pressure he went blindside with support at his back and scored.
YMP's discipline cost them again as they were marched 10 metres after a penalty for talking back to the referee. That put them on the back foot inside their 22 as Ngatapa took a quick tap-and-go.
The try soon after gave Walker-Leawere his hat-trick. He hit the advantage line at pace and cut against the “grain” of play to score.
With five minutes to go, YMP needed to pull out all the stops.
They scored quickly with second-five Jayden Milner crossing the line to score between the posts.
A good spin move out of the tackle as the ball was spread through the hands pulled in the defence, and an incredible offload to Milner enabled him to score uncontested.
With the clock ticking down, YMP mounted one final attack.
A break in their 22 gave fullback Andrew Tauatevalu space to chip the ball tantalisingly close to the Ngatapa line and the chase was on. The Ngatapa defence made it to the ball first, but the YMP team piled players into the ruck and forced a penalty.
The resulting attack was held up over the line which set up one final play, an attacking five-metre scrum.
The set-piece went blindside, with an 8 to 9 move that gave space for a floating skip pass to Ferris, who darted for the corner.
In a try that looked like it came from the NRL, Ferris dived for the line and dotted the ball down as he and the defender crashed into the corner flag.
With scores tied it was all on YMP's Tauatevalu with a kick from the corner. It looked good, and for many viewers and the Turanga FM commentary booth, it was good. But the flags stayed down, and the final whistle was blown.
The teams will meet each other again next week in what is set to be a thrilling game.
Hickey said the teams were evenly matched and it would come down to who made the most of the opportunities presented to them.
