Taniwha lose to Turbos in ITM CUP

The Northland Taniwha lamented while Manawatu revelled in their first victory over the side since 1993, winning their ITM Cup Championship clash 30-22 at Palmerston North's FMG Stadium.
Saturday's match was Manawatu's third in a week, yet their defence worked tirelessly, seeking, then gaining revenge on the side who shamelessly defeated the Turbos last season by a record 77-8 in Whangarei.
Manawatu drilled the Taniwha, who sat out round two with the bye, tackling low and hard, pulling Northland to ground quickly and giving the Manawatu defensive line time to spread out.
The backs also played a solid kick and chase game which, along with Northland's multiple handling errors (14) and missed opportunities, made it a frustrating day at the office for Northland head coach Adriaan Ferris.
"We showed at times how well we operate, creating ample opportunities and not to capitalise on those is immensely frustrating ... we've let ourselves down and we apologise to our fans and supporters as it is not acceptable to play like we did," Ferris said after the match.
While the set piece worked well and the team showed tenacity in both the scrums and lineouts, unfortunately the side switched off too many times during the game, the coach said.
Northland started strongly, forcing a penalty which right wing Lachie Munro chipped over the goalposts, before fly half Aaron Cruden kicked one over for Manawatu to level the score after 12 minutes.
The Taniwha had the better of the early exchanges before Manawatu's sparky backs came into their own.
Fourteen minutes into the half, fullback Jared Payne toed ahead a clever grubber kick from Aaron Bancroft, before benefiting from a fortunate touch in the dead ball area.
Manawatu responded 12 minutes later through a fine team try, as a patient build-up and accurate recycling of the ball was rewarded when space was created for Asaeli Tikoirotuma to cross in the right-hand corner.
The home side landed another blow within just two minutes when centre Johnny Leota scored, thanks to a well-weighted cutout pass from halfback Aaron Smith.
By this stage, Manawatu were threatening to dominate but Northland dragged themselves level in the 38th minute when hard working No8 Cam Eyre detached from a lineout drive to crash over the line. Level 15-15 at halftime, centre Rene Ranger made a thrilling break to cross the line after the restart, but did not ground the ball properly - the start of too many handling errors which plagued Northland in the second 40.
Manawatu edged ahead with a penalty kick by Cruden, before Ranger made another daring break which started a series of drives for the line, with Munro finally dotting down when he capitalised on space on the openside.
He converted his try to put Northland in front again, 18-22, but playmaker Aaron Smith soon replied to put his side ahead 15 minutes from fulltime.
Despite strong Northland defence on their line, 10 minutes later, flanker Callum Gibbins also crossed from close range after he extracted himself from a ruck to seal the deserved Manawatu victory - their second from three in their 2011 National Provincial Championship campaign.
The loss was a blow for Northland, and Ferris, who the previous week celebrated his first win with Northland when they overcame Tasman 19-9 in the Championship division.