Missed tackles, dropped balls costly

It was a hard luck story that got even tougher for Northland as the day wore on at the 2011 Bay Engineers Supplies Bay of Plenty Provincial Sevens Tournament.
Northland were fit and feeling confident after an intense build-up to yesterday's one-day tournament where 12 teams from around the country battled it out at Mount Maunganui's Blake Park.
Knowing they needed to win one of their two pool matches to progress through to the final eight, Northland started well against North Harbour in their first hit out of the competition.
"But we were burgled. We were leading Harbour right up until the final minute of the game, where they slipped through to score in the closing seconds of the second half," coach JT Thomas said after the tournament.
After losing to North Harbour, 21-17, Northland were on the back foot as they went up against a classy Wellington side that had plenty of speed. "Wellington had beaten Harbour in their earlier game and looked sharp. They got out to an early lead but we created opportunities and scored from them ... but then made a couple of basic eras - missed tackles and dropped balls - and that cost us," the coach said.
The two losses put Northland out of contention for a place, so Thomas and fellow coach Peter Nock experimented a bit with combinations.
In the bowl and shield quarter-final matches, Northland put in a disappointing performance against Horowhenua/Kapiti, going down 19-10. "This game was probably the most gutting for us as the boys didn't play to their potential. We really let ourselves down. What was most humiliating for us, is that at the end of the game, one Horowhenua flyer stole the ball in a turnover from us in their own 22, and ran 90m to score," Thomas lamented. In their final consolation game, Northland went up against Manawatu who also had one of their more forgettable tournaments. The teams were neck-and-neck for most of the game with two tries apiece, but Northland fell at the last hurdle again and went down 19-12. "It's really hard to put my finger on it ... the boys did play well in parts.
"We had done enough preparation and deserved to do better ... but it is cut throat at this level, and you can't afford to make mistakes.
"We need to put together a full 14-minute performance."
It had also been a confidence thing - a couple of wins would have justified all of the hard work they had put in and given the team momentum for their remaining games, he added.
Each player had done his individual job well, with Cam Goodhue claiming some good ball from the kick-off, while Iwi Hauraki and Troy Lobendahn had been dangerous on attack along with Kolio Hifo.
"These guys played with cohesion but now Peter Nock and I have the hard job of finalising the 12 who will go to Queenstown for the Pub Charity National Sevens Tournament next weekend. We have to cut two from this squad," he said.
The team was to be finalised early this week.
Finishing in the bottom tier was a far cry from Northland's third place at the tournament last year, but the coach said things could only get better next weekend at Queenstown.
Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty met Waikato in the final of yesterday's tournament, in what was a rematch of last year's Nationals final. Bay of Plenty got their revenge - after being pipped by Waikato last year in Queenstown. They fought an epic final at Blake Park to win convincingly 47-28.