ITM Cup: North Harbour steal win over Southland

Tevita Li of North Harbour makes a break against Southland. Photo / Getty

North Harbour 26
Southland 25

North Harbour are on the board, though it would be optimistic to say they are back on track in the Championship.

They engineered an extraordinary turnaround, capped when first five Daniel Halangahu slotted his sixth goal of the evening in the final seconds to steal a one-point victory in Invercargill.

It is the first time North Harbour have beaten the Stags since 2007 and their pack must take some of the plaudits, rolling up the sleeves in the second stanza and getting behind lock Hayden Triggs, who was playing his 100th game in this competition. Southland are not easy to topple in Invercargill, as coach Steve Jackson, a former Stags skipper, knows full well, and it pays not to spot them a 15-point halftime advantage. But despite more yeoman work by flanker Tim Boys, the Stags' discipline and nous let them down in the second spell.

Some solid lead-up work led to captain Bryn Hall flicking a nice pass to Michael Little for North Harbour's second try, and they had pulled to 22-20. They kept the pressure on Southland, and Halangahu kept kicking the goals.

The first spell was an exercise in frustration for long-suffering North Harbour fans. The midfield and fringe defence was badly exposed by Southland No 12 Willis Halaholo, whose tricky footwork in the face of soft tackling yielded two tries. That was the sort of form that won him a Hurricanes contract from the 2014 ITM Cup. And yet he was barely seen after that. Stags fullback Junior Ngaluafe also hit them early, finding himself in space after just four minutes.

North Harbour's early bright moments came from a sterling long break by blindside flanker Chris Vui and a scorching solo tryscoring effort by wing Tevita Li.

North Harbour now gear up for a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke's Bay in Napier on Saturday night, while Southland welcome high-fliers Wellington to the deep south.

North Harbour 26 (Tevita Li, Michael Little tries; Daniel Halangahu 2 con, 4 pen)
Southland 25 (Willis Halaholo 2, Junior Ngaluafe tries; Ash Moeke 2 con, 2 pen)
Halftime: 10-22