RUGBY - Northland oh-so close

A ghastly 10 minute second-half meltdown against Hawke's Bay last night has all but ended hope the Northland rugby team could stage an unlikely surge into the Air NZ Cup quarterfinals this season.
Northland lost 35-29, their chances of winning evaporating when they simultaneously had prop Tony Coughlan sinbinned and lost winger Rene Ranger to injury while David Holwell was being patched up in the blood bin.
The three-punch combination was followed with the knockout hook, a try to Hawke's Bay winger Zac Guildford, their fourth for the evening, that put the home team out to a 32-22 lead.
Northland tried valiantly to hammer their way back, a rumbling forward maul travelling almost 20 metres for Coughlan to get a try to make it 32-29.
But those critical moments proved the turning point that buried the Northland challenge.
It was a rollercoaster ride to the finish though, both teams registering four-try bonus points by the 60-minute mark in a see-sawing encounter that was even extended six minutes into overtime.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Northland too, particularly for skipper Justin Collins, who cut a despondent figure afterwards.
"That game was there for the taking. We were up for this game but we did not put 80 minutes together," he said.
"We had about 60 minutes of pretty good footy, but 20 minutes was poor, riddled with errors and cost us the game.
"Every time we made a mistake, they capitalised on it," he said.
Hawke's Bay won the first half just 20-19 with tries to fullback Ben Batger and flanker Karl Lowe but thanks largely to the accurate boot of first five eighths Matt Berquist.
But Northland were hanging in, having replied with three first-half touchdowns, to Dow, halfback Corey Tamou and powerful winger Rene Ranger.
At that stage the home team were struggling to get their expectant fans involved in the game, a shocking error count leaving most spectators gobsmacked into silence.
Now Northland need to woo their newly-won fans for a must-win encounter with Counties-Manukau in Whangarei next weekend. Even then they will need to win an away fixture with Waikato to book a quarterfinal.
Hawke's Bay 35 (Ban Batger, Karl Lowe, Jason Shoemark, Zac Guildford tries; Matt Berquist 3 pens, 3 cons), Northland 29 (Tim Dow, Corey Tamou, Rene Ranger, Tony Coughlan tries; David Holwell 3 cons, pen).
Halftime: 20-19 Hawke's Bay.