Semis repeat all but gone for fighting Bay of Plenty

Bay of Plenty's hopes of repeating their 2004 NPC first division heroics all but melted away with a 32-38 loss to Wellington here today.

A burst of 29 unanswered points midway through the match weren't enough for the game visitors, who went down fighting under a blazing sun at Westpac Stadium. It was their fourth loss in the opening five rounds, practically destroying their chances of repeating their march to the semifinals last year.

Down 3-23 with halftime approaching, Bay of Plenty turned the match on its axis by running in four tries before 60 minutes were up to lead 32-23.

Both sides finished with four tries but a couple of extra penalties by first five-eighth Jimmy Gopperth made the difference for Wellington, who started and finished the game stronger.

It was Wellington's third win but question marks remain about their credentials following another mid-game lapse.

Wellington's opening two tries came inside the first twelve minutes, both times busting the Bay of Plenty line wide out from clean lineout ball.

The first saw fullback Shannon Paku score after hitting the line at pace while the second resulted in centre Ma'a Nonu scoring under the crossbar after scooping up a Paku flick pass.

First five-eighth Murray Williams responded with a penalty for the visitors but Gopperth nailed three of his own in the space of 10 minutes to carry the hosts to a lead that appeared decisive.

However, a try before halftime to centre Grant McQuoid to reduce the score to 8-23 was a portent of things to come.

Lock Mark Sorenson , halfback Kevin Senio and winger Anthony Tahana all crossed in the third quarter of the match as their forwards took control.

Wellington winger Roy Kinikinilau stopped the rot with a try 15 minutes from fulltime, followed 5min later by a contentious try to No 8 Thomas Waldrom which restored the lead. It was unclear on replays whether Waldrom had correctly grounded a Gopperth grubber kick into the in-goal area but the try was awarded.

Gopperth's fourth penalty rounded out the scoring.

Wellington captain Ma'a Nonu said there were a lot of holes in both teams' defensive lines, the unseasonal heat fully testing the fitness.

"It was a funny old game... it was a roller-coaster out there," he said.

"We wanted to get momentum going, keep the ball in hand and use our backs.

"But Bay are a good team, they're under-rated."

Bay of Plenty captain Wayne Ormond said his team had to try to slow down Wellington's quick style play which took them clear in the first half.

"It was a matter, especially in the forwards, of working really hard and getting some ball for the backs. Once we did that we scored points," he said.

Ormond was disappointed his team couldn't hold onto the lead over the closing stages.

"We just had to keep our composure, we might have fallen off a little bit.

"(But) that was probably our best 80min this year."

- NZPA