Anendra Singh: Sport gods did throw underdogs bone

Jared Priest

It seems the sport gods had a rash of upsets on their agenda at the weekend.

The biggest David-and-Goliath story, of course, would have been the Black Caps eclipsing Australia in the ICC World Cup final in Melbourne overnight.

But the gods had given enough indication the underdogs were capable of the unthinkable in the sporting cauldron in Hawke's Bay.

Let's start with MAC beating Havelock North, 21-18, in premier men's club rugby for the first time in 25 years at Ron Giorgi Park, Flaxmere, about 4.30pm on Saturday.

It came on the heels of paying tribute to a loyal fan who died last week.

Not long after, Havelock North CC were toasting an upset victory against Napier Technical Old Boys in their 29-run win at Nelson Park, Napier, in the premier men's club limited-overs final.

Havelock North captain Jared Priest said teammate Stu McVeigh just had enough time to grab a beer before jetting to Melbourne to watch the Black Caps.

"I have posted on Facebook well wishes from our team to encourage Brendon McCullum and the boys that you can cause an upset," Priest said yesterday.

The TAB odds favoured South African franchise Stormers to beat the Highlanders in their Super Rugby match on Saturday night in Dunedin.

Wrong! The Jamie Joseph-coached underdogs prevailed 39-21 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Yesterday afternoon the Warriors also were odds-on favourites to beat the Brisbane Broncos in their NRL clash in Auckland. They lost 24-16.

Few, if any, would have placed money on the Hawke's Bay United team securing a place in the ASB Premiership grand final, but the Brett Angell-coached franchise team did just that on a dose of self-belief to upset Team Wellington 4-3 on away-goals aggregate after losing 2-1 in Napier.