Shelford smiling at Harbour's resolve

By DAVID LEGGAT

North Harbour 16 Auckland 5 - Wayne Shelford could afford a quiet smile of satisfaction as his team completed the first part of an assignment which will show their credentials as serious NPC contenders this season.

On a foul night at North Harbour Stadium, the home side were well worth the win - the first over their nearest rivals on the northern side of the bridge - while Auckland were left to lament their inability to handle difficult conditions in their first loss of the competition.

By Shelford's measure, the Air New Zealand-sponsored NPC games against Auckland and Canterbury, whom they face at Albany on Friday night, will be the benchmark for Harbour.

Auckland may not have the skill and nous of other halcyon years, but Shelford still holds them, and Canterbury, as a true means of gauging his team's progress.

Resolve, desperation and willpower tend not to be the first adjectives to spring into mind when thinking of North Harbour.

But that is what Mark Robinson and his men displayed in spades on Saturday night.

They pressured Auckland throughout the night, hounded relentlessly and far more effectively than the visitors, and richly deserved the ovation they received at the end.

The most tangible reward for that full-court press approach came with the try by Rua Tipoki in the seventh minute. When George Harder's attempted clearing kick was charged down, Harbour nailed the retreating Mils Muliaina as he tried to save the situation near his own line and Tipoki was first in the scramble for the loose ball.

But the win came from more than merely efficient harrassment.

Every time a tackle had to be made, a ball had to be snaffled, it seemed Harbour did the job.

They scavenged expertly in conditions tailor-made for the likes of Matua Parkinson.

The difference on the scoreboard was the goalkickers.

Harbour's Willie Walker slotted a couple of testing penalties in the lashing rain, and Frano Botica kicked a critical one 20 minutes from the end to open the gap to 11 points.

Auckland's goalkicker, Carlos Spencer, missed with all four attempts, none of them exactly simple and one bouncing off an upright, but he did score their try.

It was well worked. Spencer organised the initial thrust heading right on the Harbour 22, then doubled around to keep the movement going and dive across in the corner.

It was not all despair for Auckland. Their lineout was effective and in patches they had the better of the game.

They tried hard, but it was not their night. Two moments summed it up.

A scrum on the Harbour line, Auckland with the feed inside the last quarter, but somehow the ball was smuggled back on the Harbour side and cleared.

Then in the last moment, with a bonus point still to aim for, Auckland surged away down the right, only to have what seemed a sure try stopped expertly by the last defender, Glen Osborne.

"They had more urgency," Auckland coach Wayne Pivac conceded.

Said Shelford: "We've worked very hard on our defence in the last few weeks. We want to be consistent. A lot of it is mental application and we fronted on the day."

One pat on the back to both teams: given the soapy ball, lashing rain and surface with the consistency of an ice rink in places, the handling was remarkably good.