Season opener goes awry for desperate Taniwha

The first game of the year is never a perfect beast, but without a dysfunctional lineout it might have gone Northland's way in Rotorua last night.
An inability to put a rattled Bay of Plenty out of their misery in the first spell, combined with a lack of ball in the second half and a vastly improved Steamers performance, saw the Taniwha go down 14-19 in a game they should have won.
"Our lineout was obviously not right and we weren't able to capitalise on a couple of attacking positions on their goal line in the first half," coach Bryce Woodward said.
He thought a couple of early errors cost the lineout its assurance and from then on it went from bad to worse.
"In the second half it was a matter of trying to hold them out properly and I thought we were going to come back into the game but we just weren't able to do so," the disappointed coach added.
In a week in which Bay of Plenty coach Greg Smith has been absent on enforced leave and uncertainty surrounds his continued role, the Steamers squad took a big step towards controlling their own destiny with a gutsy win.
It was a tough ask with Bay captain Joe Savage limping from the field before half and hour was up with his side struggling and down 11-3 and the visitors were ahead 14-3 at halftime.
At the centre of the Bay victory were two of the senior pros in No.8 Colin Bourke and first five eight Mike Delany. They had huge second halves, Delany arguably turned in his most dominant performance at this level, contributing 14 points and controlling the game.
He kicked 14 points and tore off huge chunks of territory while Bourke led the forward charge as they turned an 11-point deficit into a five-point win. The Bay's lineout was outstanding, they pinched at least eight of Northland's throw-ins.
Bay caretaker coach Sean Horan said the performance was a defining one.
"I don't think the boys realise how big this win is. This is season defining to me whether we make the top eight or make the top four or make the top 10," he said.
It was the second time in consecutive encounters the Bay has come out on top of a desperate Northland by a five-point margin.
Last season in Whangarei they had to overcome the might of the "Save the Taniwha" campaign and a parochial Okara Park crowd.
Last night's meeting was just as desperate, both sides are among the bottom six of the current 14-side NPC division which will be culled to 10 later this year, however the home advantage was with the Bay and a 4700 crowd.
The slippery conditions and match importance dictated a no-frills approach by both sides and there was a lot of kicking, some aimless and some very good.
Bay enjoyed much of the early kicking battle but it was the towering punt of Lachie Munro, which exposed Bay fullback Zar Lawrence's ability under the high ball and brought the first points.
The ball spilt forward from Lawrence into Northland hands and right winger Troy Woodman scored in the corner after good work by Matt Clutterbuck.
Munro missed the conversion but made up with it by stroking three penalties within the game's first half while Delany could only land one from two for the Steamers.
The Steamers discipline was woeful. They were under a general warning from referee Josh Noonan before halftime after conceding eight penalties to three.
After a stern self-assessment at the break the home side focused on getting back to basics with Delany keeping them at the right end of the field.
Luke Braid scored the Bay's try, following through a kick Northland failed to control and diving on the ball while Delany banged over four telling goals.
* Bay of Plenty 19 (Luke Braid try; Mike Delany 4 pen con) Northland 14 (Troy Woodman try; Lachie Munro 3 pen). Halftime: 3-14