Ngatapa’s second try came from strong front-foot ball off the back of a maul that had gained so much momentum the forwards tripped over themselves as they made their way to the line.
Ngatapa first five-eighth Ricardo Patricio caught the OBM backs watching the maul. He ran on to the ball at pace and through a gaping hole in the defence to score.
Ngatapa kept up the pressure. OBM dropped an up-and-under and the ball was kicked on. OBM recovered the ball close to their line but couldn’t get the numbers back in time. Ngatapa quickly turned the ball over and winger Mike Livingston scored between the posts.
As the first half entered its final 10 minutes, Ngatapa got a set-piece turnover with their players lined up outside. OBM were short on numbers as the ball was worked wide, and a defender came out of the line to try to cut off the play. He was unsuccessful, but the space left when he broke the line gave Raleigh an easy second try as he put his foot down and broke through the hole.
OBM started to steady their ship in the dying minutes of the first half. They were making strong attacking runs and working the ball deep into the Ngatapa red zone. They looked like they would end the half with a try of their own but an intercept and 90m run from Patricio meant they ended the half 28 points down, with only a penalty kick to their name.
OBM coach Trevor Crosby said that after some “stirring words from us and the players” his team got back on track in the second half.
“We knew we needed to change the game plan (and) I gambled on a particular way we wanted to play.”
Ngatapa coach Stephen Hickey said his team “didn’t really kick on in the second half”.
“They turned up with a different team
. . . and they got stuck in.”
OBM scored twice in the first five minutes of the second half to close the gap.
The first try was a sustained build-up of left-to-right pressure that led to hooker Rikki Terekia scoring on the blindside.
That effort was backed up minutes later by a try that originated from inside the OBM 22. They worked the ball up the field after a strong break from reserve back Justin Allen gave them the forward momentum to continue rolling up the field. OBM kept peppering away at the advantage line and were rewarded with a try to reserve Isaac Lameko, who stepped inside the defence and scored between the posts.
Ngatapa held out wave after wave of OBM attacks, and the moment they had an opportunity they grabbed it. Winger Pete Livingston grubber-kicked down the right-hand side of the pitch, and the ball hung up right in front of OBM’s cover defence.
Livingston ran through and toed the ball on before he crashed out of the footrace, but Patricio was hot on his heels and leading the pack as he kicked the ball on once more. It looked like the ball would dribble dead but a lucky bounce allowed the Poverty Bay union’s player of the match, Patricio, to score between the posts.
Undeterred, OBM hit back 10 minutes later with the try of the game.
Receiving a box kick on their own 22, they swung the ball to the other side of the field, where there was enough space to stretch their legs. OBM then carved up the Ngatapa defence in a display of skill that normally only works in practice.
Winger Elijahlee Te Kira made a break and passed the ball inside to Rikki Terekia, who then drew and passed back to Te Kira in a quick one-two move. Te Kira ran the ball into Ngatapa’s half before again offloading to Terekia, who now had the space to run in a try under the posts after the combination left four defenders in their wake.
OBM kept up the pressure late into the second half, and in the last 10 minutes of the game they scored their last try. After marching the ball up the field through a combination of strong runs and a string of penalty tap-and-goes, No.8 Jale Tiko stepped inside the defence on the blindside, wrong-footing them and scoring the final try of the game.
Ngatapa finished off the scoring with a penalty kick that put them 14 points clear of the OBM side.
Crosby said his team were in it with a chance going into the second 40, but their poor performance in the last 20 minutes of the first half meant they had too much ground to make up.
“It’s the story of our 2020,” he said.
“We’re leaving it to the last minute.”
OBM 27 (Rikki Terekia 2, Jale Tiko, Isaac Lameko tries; Michael Fox 2 conversions, penalty).
Ngatapa 41 (Ricardo Patricio 2, Matt Raleigh 2, Mike Livingston, Jack Lewis tries; Ricardo Patricio 4 con, pen).
Halftime: 31-3.
