Bay of Plenty Steamers player Jesse Parete yells in ecstasy after scoring a try against the Hawke's Bay Magpies in Rotorua tonight. Photo/Stephen Parker
The Bay of Plenty Steamers were at their attacking best in a 46-17 bonus point demolition of Hawke's Bay in Rotorua tonight.They scored six tries and Mike Delany kicked six out of seven goals on their way to claiming the Macrae-Shelford Cup.
The Steamers dominated the opening 10 minutes and had Hawke's Bay camped inside their own 22. The Magpies desperately defended their own line but after three consecutive penalties were down to 14 men as prop Pouri Rakete-Stones was shown a yellow card.
Shortly afterwards the Steamers had opened the scoring. They set a maul from a lineout 5m out and drove towards the line. The maul went down but prop Siegfried Fisi'ihoi scooped the ball up off the back of the ruck to score. Mike Delany converted and the Steamers had a 7-0 lead.
Magpies' Ihaia West kicked a penalty from about 30m out, in front of the posts to reduce the deficit to 7-3.
Thirty minutes in West was running the show and using his kicking game to put Hawke's Bay in good field positions, but the Steamers' defence held strong and, having absorbed the pressure, launched a counter-attack.
Winger Monty Ioane made a barnstorming run up the right wing into the Magpies' 22, breaking tackles at will. They shifted the ball left and centre Lalakai Foketi crashed over. Delany converted and Bay of Plenty led 14-3.
Delany added consecutive penalties from 40m out to take his personal first-half points tally to 10 and give the Steamers a 20-3 lead at halftime.
The Magpies drew first blood in the second half. After working their way into the Steamers' 22, hooker Ash Dixon was held up over the line. The resulting 5m scrum wheeled towards the blindside and Hawke's Bay No8 Marino Mikaele Tu'u broke off the back of the scrum to score.
West converted and the Steamers' lead was reduced to 20-10.
With 20 minutes to play Bay of Plenty extended their lead thanks to a brilliant combination between halfback Richard Judd and winger Joe Webber.
Webber got the ball inside the 22, on the left-hand side of the field. He passed outside to Judd who popped it straight back inside to Webber. He raced through a gaping hole, evaded the cover defence and scored.
Delany converted to maintain his perfect record off the tee and the Steamers led 27-10.
With 12 minutes left the Magpies gave themselves a shot at a comeback through a converted try to Ihaia West. They won a penalty on halfway and a quick tap saw them charge into the 22. They shifted the ball right and the ever-slippery West raced through a gap to score under the posts. His conversion reduced the Steamers' lead to 27-17.
The Steamers hit straight back through Jesse Parete, who had come on off the bench. They had the ball just outside the Magpies' 22 when Delany put in a perfectly weighted chip kick - Parete got an ideal bounce and bulldozed his way over the tryline. Delany converted and with seven minutes to play the Steamers led 34-17.
Bay of Plenty could have had another moments later as they shifted the ball left inside the Hawke's Bay 22, only for Webber to knock on with a clear run to the try line.
He made amends with five minutes left when he got on the end of an identical play to score in the corner. Delany made his first miss of the night, but the Steamers led 39-17.
Right on fulltime the Steamers added the cherry on top as Parete scored off the back of a maul. The try was converted and the Steamers had a 46-17 win in the bag.
Speaking after the game, the man with the golden boot Mike Delany said the win was "awesome", especially after the way they lost their previous game.
Against Northland last week the Steamers led 23-7 at halftime but went on to lose 28-23.
"I was proud that we got through the second half, we put our heads in and executed what we wanted to do," Delany said.
Being Rotorua born and bred, he said it was great being able to play in front of a home crowd again.
"I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to play here again, but it's awesome. Having the family here and playing with a great bunch of guys, it's great."
Steamers coach Clayton McMillan said he was happy to get the win against "a bloody good side".
"It's been a tough week really - we feel like we let an opportunity slip last week. It's been niggly at training, a lot of tension, but I'm happy that manifested into an improved performance tonight," McMillan said.
He said at halftime, with his side leading 20-3, he simply asked them "have you learnt the lesson?"
It appears they had as they romped home to a 46-17 victory.
Bay of Plenty 46 (Joe Webber 2, Jesse Parete 2, Siegfried Fisi'ihoi, Lalakai Foketi tries; Mike Delany 4 cons 2 pens, Luke Campbell con)
Hawke's Bay 17 (Marino Mikaele Tu'u, Ihaia West tries; West 2 cons, pen). HT: 20-3