Northland see off Holwell in style

Northland dug deep to farewell the long serving David Holwell in style with a 36-24 victory over Bay of Plenty at Toll Stadium last night.
Both teams showed the effects of a long season with Bay of Plenty losing half of their backline to injury during the match and Northland losing many of their forwards.
The extensive injury toll was a sign of how much both sides wanted to win the match but neither side tempered their attacking style resulting in an end-to-end spectacular.
There were too many errors for the purists to class the match as memorable, but what it lacked in terms of continuity, it certainly made up for in drama with the result in the balance until Simon Munro scored in the corner with less than five minutes to go.
If Northland were made to work hard for their victory, it was all worth it to see an elated Holwell surrounded by fans after the match.
"I'm going to miss this - this is what we play rugby for - winning games is always a challenge and we prepared all week to get a victory and we got one tonight and that's the biggest thing I'm going to miss," he said.
The 35-year-old said the team had lifted their game this season and it was good to end - his career and the season - on a good result.
"We've played pretty good rugby at home all year and while we haven't always got the results we've played well on this turf, which didn't happen much last year, so that's pleasing and it's something to build on for next year."
Northland led 17-14 at the break, with neither side able to dominate for long enough to amass more than a nominal lead.
Taniela Moa grabbed an intercept to stroll away for the first try before Holwell answered a few minutes later by running at the defence from close range, spinning in the tackle and slamming the ball down for a try to mark his last provincial match.
Northland failed to secure the kick-off and Josh Hohneck made them pay.
The big prop turned up on the wing to take advantage of an overlap on the blindside after the Bay forwards had rolled Northland back.
Aaron Bancroft answered for the Taniwha in a try similar to their first with the forwards sucking in the defenders to create space out wide.
The Bay turned down two kickable penalties to score tries in the last 10 minutes of the spell but solid Northland defence held them out.
Moa was impressive for the Bay, replacing the injured Mike Delany at first-five eighth and almost grabbing another intercept try but he couldn't hold on to the dusty Rene Ranger pass.
He put Jason Hona free on the wing with a long cut-out pass moments later only to see referee Garratt Williamson call it forward.
In the 51st minute, Northland attacked from their own 22m again but this time Moa was on hand to tackle Bancroft and then flip the ball up off the ground into Grant McQuoid's arms for the veteran second five-eighth - in his 50th and probably last game for the Bay - score a five-pointer.
This time Dean Budd gathered the restart and launched another attack that saw Ranger kick through a great grubber that made the Bay defence hesitate long enough for Budd to grab the bouncing ball and dive over the line to retake the lead.
Five minutes later, Northland was over again with Ranger using a rare bit of space to cause havoc in the defence. The ball was knocked loose in the tackle and Rhyan Caine accepted the scraps to touch down. Northland finally got some luck from the TMO and the try was awarded.
Ahead 31-21, Ranger took a blow to the throat and was taken off to hospital, and the Bay started their comeback.
Skipper Colin Bourke kicked a 45m penalty to narrow the gap to seven points and then Moa grabbed another intercept from a Northland attacking scrum, only to be overhauled by Jared Payne in the race to the line.
Northland regrouped and held the visitors out and a Cam Eyre midfield turnover sparked another raid that ended in Munro's try and victory.
The battered and bruised Taniwha were then able to farewell the 115-game veteran, Holwell, off in an appropriate manner while the Bay of Plenty players were left to reflect on their season and their dashed semifinal hopes.

Scores:

Northland 36 (David Holwell, Aaron Bancroft, Dean Budd, Rhyan Caine, Simon Munro tries; Lachie Munro 4 con, pen) Bay of Plenty 24 (Taniela Moa, John Hohneck, Grant McQuoid tries; Mike Delany 2 con, Colin Bourke con, pen).