Taniwha effort proves fruitless

It was the story of the season for us, we were doing okay at halftime, then it slipped away again and we
got whupped.- Jared PayneNorthland finished off their Air New Zealand Cup season with a disappointing 15-32 defeat at the hands of a Hawke's Bay side who never really got their A-game going.
The visitors were good enough, however, to keep their hopes of a semifinal place alive by scoring two tries in either half and kept a tenacious Northland at bay with a well-organised defensive effort.
The home side tried their hardest to break their losing streak at Okara Park this season but were incapable of breaking the solid Bay defence that intensified  whenever they were near their 22m line.
"It was the story of the season for us, we were doing okay at halftime, then it slipped away again and we got whupped, Hawke's Bay showed us why we're in the top four and we're not," a disappointed Northland captain Jared Payne said after the game.
Unlike most of  Northland's matches at their Whangarei base this season, it was the visitors who started off well.
Barely a minute into the encounter, in their first possession of the ball, Hawke's Bay winger Jason Kupa strolled over the line after brushing aside an uncharacteristically poor tackle by Northland fullback Lachie Munro.
Northland recovered well and began to probe the visitors' line for weaknesses. They didn't find many - and every time they made a half break or found an overlap, they just couldn't find a player in support to finish the move.
Munro narrowed the gap with a penalty but then the boot of Matt Berquist pushed the  lead out to seven, and then 10 points, before Munro made it 6-13.
Hawke's Bay then turned down their first penalty, recycling the ball patiently until  surprisingly speedy prop Faka'anaua Taumololo found himself facing David Holwell and Rhyan Caine, the two smallest Northland players on the field, five metres from the line.
The try was no contest, Berquist added the conversion and although Northland hammered away at the visitors in the remaining minutes of the half they couldn't add to their total.
It was the same story at the beginning of the second spell, with Northland's efforts proving fruitless. Instead Hawke's Bay went further ahead when hard-working loosie Karl Lowe  dotted down before Thomas Waldrom scored  the try of the match in the 71st minute.
The  visitors showed the Okara Park faithful what they were capable of with some fantastic ball handling and support play in the movement.
The Northland side were down but not out and threw caution to the wind, with  Munro scoring in the final minute of the game.
Last night's loss may  have been the final first-class game for first five-eighth David Holwell, the gutsy veteran having ventured out of retirement for his team's last handful of matches this season.
Hawke's Bay will now have to wait until Waikato's match against Auckland to see if they will earn a semifinal spot, with Waikato needing a bonus point to keep them out of next week's semifinals.
 Hawke's Bay's captain, former Taniwha Jason Shoemark, said his side never quite got up for the game but got what they came for - a bonus point win.
"We're looking forward to next week, the boys will be pumped, we said at the start of the year we wanted to win this competition and if we get the chance, we'll give it everything," he said.
Hawke's Bay 32 (Jason Kupa, Faka'anaua Taumalolo, Karl Lowe, Thomas Waldrom tries; Matt Berquist 2 pen, 3 con) Northland 13 (Lachie Munro try; Munro 2 pen, con). Halftime: 20-6.