At the risk of opening up sub-union wounds, maybe Eastern Bay rugby fans have a right to feel aggrieved.
It's not often they get to host the Steamers and they turned out in droves yesterday, packing the glorious old haybarn that is Whakatane's Rugby Park grandstand and trying valiantly to find positives in Bay of Plenty's 28-19 win over Counties-Manukau.
At least the home side won, they reasoned.
At least it wasn't a competition game and there are still players to come back. And at least the game didn't go into extra time or else miner's helmets would've been needed to see through the thickening gloom.
It was small change, however, for a game that sadly reflected the dire standard of club rugby in the Bay at the moment.
The Steamers needed first-five Nick McCashin's seven penalties - which would have been an all-time record had it been a first-class game - and the best part of 74 minutes before they could see off Counties-Manukau.
Flanker Luke Braid, head and shoulders above every other player on the field, scored the winning try with sheer intent and aggression from a rolling maul, and McCashin knocked over two more penalties to seal it in a faultless kicking display.
But the visitors still scored three tries and at least made a concerted effort to play decent rugby. The home side generally fumbled and stuttered with all the ambition of a drunken goose.
The Eastern Bay affliction didn't stop there, with Steamers league convert Clinton Toopi and Whakatane-born prop James McGougan both missing yesterday's game through injury.
Toopi's knee is sore, while McGougan was knocked out at training on Tuesday by a teammate's stray knee - although that incident was far less painful than having to sit through yesterday's game.
Ironically, it continued the love-affair Counties-Manukau coach Milton Haig has with the ground, with the former Bay halfback admitting he would have got far more out of it than his Steamers counterpart Greg Smith.
"There were some good bits for us, but we just lost a bit of structure once we subbed Tasesa Lavea off," Haig said. "We've worked pretty hard over the last couple of days in camp, and it probably showed with tiredness and cramping in that last few minutes."
Haig made his Bay debut on the ground and nearly coached his Wanganui side to an upset pre-season win in Whakatane in 2003.
Maybe that's where the positive signs lie. That woeful game six years ago - won 34-30 by the Steamers - was a severe reality check for the Steamers, who ended up having a pretty good season in 2003.
With only one more warm-up to go - against Hawke's Bay in Tauranga next Friday - before the Air New Zealand Cup starts, it's better to get this kind of performance out of their systems.
Counties-Manukau host Bay of Plenty in the second round of the competition and are expected to strengthen their side, which lost yesterday with the likes of All Black wing Lelia Masaga.
The Steamers will be looking forward to the return of lock John Moore and first-five Mike Delany for next week's game.
Positives hard to identify in Steamers' win
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