Shannon wing three-quarter Tainui Winterburn about to slip through a gap.
Shannon wing three-quarter Tainui Winterburn about to slip through a gap.
The local rugby derby, more popularly known as the “battle of the bridge”, took place at Easton Park in Foxton last Saturday. Shannon won narrowly in the final minute of the game thanks to a late penalty.
The game started at an even tempo, with both teams testing each other’sdefence. Foxton opened the scoring with an early penalty to take the lead by 3-0.
Shannon soon equalled the ledger with a penalty of their own, making the score 3-3. Foxton then applied the pressure by scoring an opportunistic try to take the lead again, 10-3.
Foxton’s Arana Murphy clears a kick from a penalty.
Shannon settled down with more competitiveness. However, Foxton gained another penalty to stretch their lead to 13-3 at halftime.
Foxton coach Tom Zimmerman said, “We need to up the tempo come scrum time. Also, we know the back corner - they’re going to go there, so keep them out.”
“Let’s take this to another level and get our scrum going quicker. Their scrum is only going for four seconds. We need to make ours eight and adjust the attitude,” Zimmerman said.
Shannon coach Yhan Franks said, “We need to get in the right area of the field and capitalise on retaining possession. Let’s stop making silly errors by letting Foxton into the game.
Shannon win a lineout in the annual battle of the bridge against Foxton.
“Hopefully in the second half, we’ll be able to use the wind and sun to our advantage by playing to the corners,” Franks said.
After the break, Shannon fought back, scoring an early try to make the score 13-10. Foxton broke Shannon’s defence at times but the visitors held their line.
Shannon were awarded a penalty midway through the second half, levelling the score at 13-13.
In the dying stages, Foxton gave away a kickable penalty, leaving Shannon winning by 16-13. The curtain-raiser was won by Foxton B with a score of 29-26 over Shannon B.
