Dominant United left with regrets

The  Northland Development squad came away with its first result of the season, a 15-all draw with Counties, but frustrated that they hadn't finished the job off.
The development squad dominated the forward exchanges throughout the match on Saturday with a big effort by the pack but their efforts weren't always rewarded on the scoreboard.
"We were all over them and I felt there was some questionable refereeing decisions surrounding our rolling maul," coach Adriaan Ferris said.
With new rules banning the collapsing of mauls by opposing teams introduced this year, the coach felt not all referees are  comfortable with it yet.
"On a number of occasions during the match our maul was collapsed while still in progress and you have to asked why they weren't penalised for it."
Ferris said the pride the team had shown to fight their way to a draw had impressed all the spectators at Hikurangi, which had included Northland coach Bryce Woodward and NRU chairman Andrew Golightly.
"I know Byrce was impressed with the passion and pride they played with for the jersey, especially as he told me that he was disappointed with that side of his team's performance against Counties on Thursday night."
A try by hooker Ross Wright kicked off their scoring, while Junior Gadolo, down from the A team, squared up the game with 10 minutes to go.
After leading for much of the game, Counties put the home side under severe pressure after Gadolo had equalised but the home side defended well  to hold them out and earn two points.
"It was there for the taking, so I suppose a draw is better than a loss, but after last week [and a big defeat by Waikato] we'll take it I suppose," Ferris concluded.
The side have a bye in their competition next week and will take on North Harbour Maori in a friendly to get some more much-needed game time.
Meanwhile, the Colts crashed to their fourth defeat in a row in the competition, defeated 32-3 by Waikato. The side were still in with a shout, trailing 7-3, with just over a quarter to play but conceded heavily in the final quarter.
There will be no let up for the team this week, when they play a strong Counties side but the news that injured Taniwha Troy Woodman may turn out for them next weekend should give them a boost before the match.
The under-18 side played above themselves to counter the size and athleticism of the highly-rated Counties side, largely made up of Wesley College first XV players, at Hikurangi in the curtain-raiser for the development game.
The Northland team played smart rugby to counter the threat posed by Counties.
"The boys played with character and courage when they were really up against it," coach Hector Davies said.
"With a little luck we might have won the game, even though that would have been a huge upset .
"We weren't too far away from pulling it off."
The U16 team went down 3-29 to a superior Bay of Plenty side, while the under-14s had a rousing win over North Harbour, 17-5.