Late droppie separates sides

It took a 76th minute drop goal by Ash Moeke to separate the two unbeaten teams in the Southern Districts Premier competition and even then Mid Western had to hang on for grim death to hold out a late charge from Hora Hora.
Cheered on by their passionate fans, the home side threw everything at the Mid Western defence in the dying moments of Saturday's game.
But, in the end, their best scoring chance came from a long-range penalty attempt by Jack McPhee that brushed the uprights, leaving the score unchanged at 30-27. A draw - following their 16-all result in the first round - might have been a more fitting result with even Mid Western skipper Adam Clarke saying the action packed encounter could have gone either way.
"There wasn't a lot between us out there but I think in previous years we would have folded under the pressure Hora Hora put us under but today we kept to the game plan and came away with the points," he said.
The home side were quickly out of the blocks and Mid Western didn't get their act together until the second quarter and, by then, they had conceded two tries. The first stemmed from a fantastic offload by McPhee to Mark Bennett, who put Kurt Courtney away in the corner. Hora Hora then extended their lead to 15-0 when prop Jamie Wati strolled over untouched after another period of sustained pressure on the Mid Western line.
The visitors hit back immediately when they took advantage of extra numbers when Dan McCully sliced into the backline from fullback to go over in the corner. A penalty by Moeke edged them back into the game, trailing by 15-8 at half-time.
The start of the second spell was always going to be important and when Saxon Samuels scored early and Moeke levelled the scores with the conversion, the intensity of the game was cranked up an extra notch.
The decibel level also reached critical mass when John Graham looked to have scored in the scoreboard corner after a sweeping 60m attack. Jubilation turned to disappointment when referee Kyle Collins ruled a 5m scrum but the cheers resounded again when skipper Warren Dunn showed off his fend to great effect, scoring under the posts from the resulting set-play.
Moeke gained the upper hand over McPhee, in the battle of the first five-eighths, midway through the spell. He sliced past his opposite before feeding Dan Wells, who was caught by the cover just short of the line but found tireless loosie Brent Murray, who dived over for the try of the match.
Mid Western's increased their work rate once again and were rewarded five minutes later when Luke Muggeridge scored in the corner, giving the visitors the lead for the first time in the match at 27-22. Dunn again sparked Hora Hora with a midfield break and when second five-eighth Turiki Tahuri was denied in his first attempt at the line, he made no mistake a couple of minutes later to level the scores.
With little time remaining, Hora Hora made a fatal mistake and were caught in possession on the edge of their 22m. Moeke's drop goal sealed the deal moments later.
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