Northland's Matt Matich takes on Hawke's Bay defenders. Photo / Michael Cunningham
It’s still early days but the Northland Taniwha might just sneak into finals contention if they keep playing the way they did against Hawke’s Bay.
There’s no such trouble for the Northland Kauri who rolled Otago 29-19 in the Farah Palmer Cup to march to the Championship final.
At Semenoff Stadium on Friday, Northland handed the Magpies their second consecutive defeat 44-21 in the Bunnings Warehouse NPC to keep their playoff chances alive.
Take a bow, Sam Nock. The veteran halfback made mincemeat of the opposition defence and is well in contention for the “Try of the Competition” prize for his first-half touchdown.
That too against a scrum that, had it continued for a split-second more, would have presented the visitors with a prime attacking opportunity off a penalty.
But Nock had other ideas. He scooped up the ball, picked the blindside for his run, chipped ahead and won the race over Magpies’ skipper Devan Flanders to the tryline.
It was an outstanding heads-up play. He was hungry for more and struck again, minutes later. Lock Liam Hallam-Eames was held up on the tryline and Northland pounced from the ensuing goal line dropout.
Josh Moorby flicked an inside pass to Rivez Reihana, who drew in the last defender to put Nock away for his second try.
Everything Nock touched turned to gold. Why not? After all, he was playing behind a Rolls Royce pack and everyone in the Cambridge blue wanted to be in the driver’s seat.
Debutant wing Tama Anderson decided that if Nock could do it, so could he. Anderson also bagged a brace against one of the form teams in the competition.
No 7 Jonah Mau’u keeps telling the coaches that he should be the first name on the team sheet each week. His burst down the midfield off a botched lineout set the platform for Anderson’s first try.
A clever cross-kick by replacement halfback Lisati Milo-Harris found an unmarked Anderson on the right wing. He stepped inside two defenders to score.
Loose forward Rory Woods is the team’s future, with his tremendous appetite for a good, hard slog in such a demanding position.
The Magpies swooped at the breakdown and attacked from everywhere in the first quarter but Northland had the tools to clip their wings.
First five Lincoln McClutchie got the Magpies off to a flying start with a try in just the 7th minute. Nifty Folau Fakatava picked his runners well which allowed locks Tom Parsons and Frank Lochore to get over the gain line.
By the 17th minute of play, Hawke’s Bay had enjoyed 79 per cent territory, 67 per cent possession and spent one minute and 28 seconds in Northland’s 22.
But Northland turned things around from the second quarter and led 24-14 at the break, despite beating four defenders only compared to the Magpies’ 13.
Hawke’s Bay had won just one of their previous 20 road games when trailing by 10 points or more at halftime, prior to Friday’s match, and Northland made sure the status quo remained.
Despite a mounting penalty count and being on the back foot for large parts of the game, Hawke’s Bay kept the scores ticking over. When hooker Tyrone Thompson stretched to narrow the score 27-21 in Northland’s favour in the third quarter, the game was anyone’s for the taking.
The Magpies had conceded seven penalties to Northland’s four by the end of the third quarter and Northland were happy to take three points after each infringement.
Northland’s substitutes in the last quarter worked a treat. Regular captain Matt Matich, in for Woods, showed why he’s one of the best in the business when it comes to heavy collisions.
He put his body on the line to effect a crucial turnover, followed by a similar act from Mau’u on the stroke of full-time, capping off a night to remember for the Taniwha.
The win has pushed Northland to eighth on the points table, with four matches remaining. Next up are Otago in Dunedin on September 10.
Photos: Northland Kauri topple Otago, 29-19, to earn themselves a spot in the final
