Bay tough to stop after season of hard charging

By CHRIS RATTUE


Bay Of Plenty have lived up to their promise to become NPC semifinal contenders and will surely carry on their winning ways against Southland today.

There was probably some scepticism over the Steamers' semifinal claims after they lost the Ranfurly Shield, but they have confounded any doubters by stringing together a first division record of three consecutive wins against Otago, Wellington and Northland since.

And with history within their grasp, the Steamers should be firing on all cylinders again in Rotorua, after a tentative win over Northland last week.

The NPC dream could so easily have come crashing down in Whangarei, as the home side charged towards the Bay of Plenty line in the final seconds.

It would have been a timely reminder of how glories can be so easily snatched away, and the response should be emphatic at Rotorua's International Stadium this evening.

Manager Craig Morris said: "We've put too much hard work in to slip up now."

And the signs are they will have solid support with Rotorua - which controversially lost out to Mt Maunganui as the team's home - responding well to the semifinal charge.

More than 3000 tickets have been sold and there are hopes for a 6000-plus crowd.

Southland had maybe their finest moment of the year against Auckland in the last round, but will also be bitterly disappointed they could not snatch an historic victory and were cruelly left without even a bonus point.

Southland chief executive Roger Clark admitted to being "gutted" after the game, in which Richard Apanui's potential match-winning conversion hit the post before Auckland scored a bonus-point try.

It was a confusing form reversal by Southland, who have often been lacklustre.

Auckland can bring out the best in small provinces, and are full of cracks that NPC minnows delight in taking advantage of.

But it has been hard to gauge Southland's true form and potential and Bay of Plenty will have to be wary.

The odds are though that Bay of Plenty will notch up their sixth win of their remarkable season.

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