Central Bay of Plenty have started their Stan Meads Cup campaign with a 24-12 loss to Hamilton, in which they faced an uphill battle from the get-go.
In the first five minutes of the game, played at Marist Park yesterday, note>Saturday Central lock Courtsiko Domonibitu was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle.
Central coach Chris Shortall said the red card was a fair decision, but put his side on the back foot.
"Initially it was really good, we were quite dominant, especially in the forwards. I wouldn't say [the red card] sealed our fate, but it certainly made it hard playing with 14 men for 75 minutes," Shortall said.
Despite the loss, he was pleased with the way his team performed and believed a few small tweaks would have them firing on all cylinders.