KEY POINTS:
Two minutes of Canterbury brilliance were followed by 78 minutes of fumbling but they still held on to beat Northland 5-3 in a head-scratching Air NZ Cup rugby match tonight.
Despite fine conditions at Okara Park and a truckload of endeavour from both teams, the final 67 minutes were scoreless, resulting in one of the lowest scores in recent first division history.
For long periods, you wouldn't have known it was the second-placed team in the competition against the second-last as the underdog hosts threatened the boilover of the season.
However, they lacked the killer instinct to overhaul an early try from second five-eighth Tim Bateman and sunk to a sixth straight loss.
Canterbury made it six wins on the trot but this was among their worst displays, with handling errors and poor options dogging them throughout.
The decisive moment in the game turned out to be Batemen's try, the first stoppage of the game 2min 05sec after the opening whistle.
A contender for try of the season, the ball went through multiple phases on both sides of the park before Bateman sliced through, suggesting the Northerners were in for a long evening.
However, the hosts replied with a penalty 10min later to first five-eighth David Holwell and got themselves back into the game through some excellent work from loose forwards Joel McKenty and Justin Collins, their veteran captain.
They were edged in the possession and territory statistics but still managed to launch attacks, with one memorable 24-phase assault on the red and black tryline only just repelled midway through the second half.
Countless scrums were well handled by Northland, who did an effective job of nullifying Canterbury's prowess there.
All Blacks and Canterbury halfback Andy Ellis played the last half hour off the reserve bench in his first match for six weeks after injuring his ribs against Australia.
Recuperated first five-eighth Stephen Brett also came on 15min from the end, along with flanker and usual Canterbury captain Kieran Read to try to secure the result.
It nearly worked with 4min remaining but Ellis dropped the ball over the tryline after supporting a Brett break.
Canterbury will need to improve when they host Bay of Plenty next week while Northland travel down the highway to face North Harbour.
Canterbury 5 (Tim Bateman try) Northland 3 (David Holwell pen). Halftime: 5-3.
- NZPA
