Mid Western play perfect party spoilers

It is unfair to call Mid Western jammy, but it is obvious they have developed a certain knack of defeating quality teams by the odd point or two at their home base at Maungakaramea.
On Saturday, they ended Hikurangi's undefeated run in the PGG Wrightson Southern Districts Premier Competition - once again by the skin of their teeth. Hikurangi clawed their way back into the game in the final quarter only to see Henry Foy's conversion attempt go wide - with time almost up on the clock - handing Mid Western a 26-25 victory.
In the absence of the injured Matt Clutterbuck,  Mid Western skipper Lachie Munro - who also doubles as their playmaker, goal kicker and good luck charm - said the close wins might be tough to take for the coaching staff but at least they kept their supporters entertained.
"It's tough for the coach that's for sure, he's pulling his hair out on the sideline and he hasn't too much to pull out. But he'll be happy we keep managing to get the four points every week, even if we're not being too convincing about it," he said.
Munro applauded his forwards in particular, for their high work rate against a tough and efficient Hikurangi pack.
"The boys up front were making the tackles when we really needed them. Hikurangi are a top of the table side and they showed that with a big comeback, they've got some great ball carriers, who were pretty tough to bring down and although they made a lot of ground we worked hard enough at the crucial times to win by one," he said.
Munro capitalised on Hikurangi's ill discipline in the first spell to kick four 40m plus penalties to see his side to lead 12-10 at half time.
The visitors' two tries underlined how effective they were when they were on their game. There was more than a bit of luck to Hikurangi's first try in the eighth minute with the referee and touch judge missing Cass Walding's knock-on and awarding a try to Brad Christenson.
The visitors' second try was more classy. Hikurangi mauled the ball forward for several phases before swinging the ball wide on the right flank. They found chinks in the Mid Western defence to pull it out of shape and eventually give them an overlap of three or four players with lock Matt Stanbridge popping up on the left wing to score a try in the corner.
Hikurangi were confident of cutting their error count and retaking the lead in the second half but they didn't count on the Munro factor. A long clearing kick by Walding had Munro backtracking deep inside his 22 but a burst of speed saw him cut through a surprised Hikurangi defensive line to beat three or four defenders before finding support inside before Saxon Samuels powered over in the corner. Munro's conversion took their lead to 19-10.
Hikurangi settled back into their game and Foy kicked a penalty before another attempted clearance kick got them into trouble. The kick was charged down and Munro was the first to the bouncing ball to be awarded the try, which he converted to take the score to a more comfortable 26-13.
The visitors had had enough of kicking after that - instead keeping the ball near the forwards and they began to make ground.
Replacement Eric Abraham picked the ball out of the ruck to dive over and score with his first touch at the three-quarter mark and Foy's conversion saw them back in the hunt at 26-20.
Hikurangi continued in the same vein forcing the tired Mid Western forwards to try and slow them down by lying on the ball in the ruck and after one or two general warnings from the referee, Brett Murray - in his first game back at the club after a stint playing overseas - was sinbinned.
Hikurangi had their chance but couldn't capitalise on their numerical advantage, with errors creeping back into their game but with two or three minutes left to play the hardworking Mike Paniora crashed over midway between the posts and the sideline to give Foy the chance to win it.
While Foy's goal-kicking isn't in the same class as Munro's, you would have backed him to slot it but Mid Westerns' luck held.
They say you make your own luck. The team in green certainly left nothing on the park on Saturday and deserved their accolades from the Maungakaramea faithful as they trooped off the domain.