East Coast save best till last in slender win over Counties

After their fairytale rise in the NPC in the past few seasons East Coast surged again at Pukekohe, scoring a 39-38 win over Counties-Manukau, who last year were in the first division.

It was a remarkable turnaround for a side which just a fortnight ago was thrashed 73-8 by Marlborough and in the previous round lost to Nelson Bays and it was achieved in dramatic circumstances.

In a match where the lead had chopped and changed, Coast trailed 38-29 with just a few minutes left. But mounting pressure brought a penalty from first five-eighths Mano Flutey and after one of the side's trademark rolling mauls No 8 Horace Lewis powered over by the posts for Flutey to add the conversion.

It was a thoroughly deserved victory by Coast, particularly because of the spirit shown in the second spell when many felt their big men would wilt after the furious pace of the first 40 minutes. They had led 29-22 at halftime.

Counties did chip away at that leeway and with a series of penalty goals from first five-eighths Stephen Donald and wing Stiveni Sivivatu capitalising on a cruel bounce for a late try appeared to have gained a hard-fought victory.

But spurred on by their many boisterous supporters among an excellent crowd of almost 8000 on Saturday, it was the Coasters who in the last gasp got up to win a thriller.

Counties were in at least two respects authors of their own misfortune.

Up 12-0 after only eight minutes from tries by centre Casey Laulala and fullback Massey Tuhakaraina, they appeared then to suffer from over-confidence.

With some rousing rugby which brought two tries to talented centre Dwayne Russell and one each to wing August Collins and prop Orcades Crawford it was the Coast who dominated until halftime.

The large turnout, which was attributable to Counties' strong promotion, may also have rebounded on the Steelers. In the second spell the Coast side clearly found an emotional high which was created largely by the enormous passion of their supporters.

Disappointed Counties coach Bruce Robertson agreed the side had contributed to a defeat which has damaged their hopes of a home semifinal.

"We just have to make sure we win the next two games so that we are in the top four at least," he said. "We made it hard for ourselves. We got those two easy tries, then relaxed, and when they got their rolling maul going they were hard to stop."

If there were any positives for Counties they were in the continued good form of lock Ramon Lindsay and Sivivatu's consistent try-scoring, with his two on Saturday taking him to nine in just five NPC matches.

They also gained two bonus points and their closest rivals for the top two, Manawatu, do have a tough final two matches, against Hawkes Bay in Napier next weekend and against Nelson Bays.

In other second division matches on Saturday, Hawkes Bay continued their domination with a 65-19 win over Mid-Canterbury in Ashburton and at the same time lifted the Colin Meads Cup; Manawatu moved to second on the table with a comfortable 39-7 win over Thames Valley; and the top of the South Island neighbours Nelson Bays and Marlborough drew 23-all.

In the third division North Otago swamped Wanganui 73-7; Horowhenua-Kapiti beat Buller 40-15 at Levin; defending titleholders South Canterbury beat Poverty Bay 28-12 in Gisborne; and Wairarapa Bush beat West Coast 37-5 in Masterton.