Lions lead Auckland at halftime

Mark Cueto runs through the tackle of Auckland's Steve Devine at Eden Park tonight. Picture / Fotpress

HALFTIME: Auckland 3 Lions 14

Auckland were trailing the Lions at halftime in tonight's final midweek game of the tour.  

The match opened at a fast pace but neither side really found their game plan in the first half.  

The Lions were first to score after four minutes when first-five Charlie Hodgson kicked a penalty following a handling infringement from Daniel Braid. But it was not until the closing moments of the half that they scored the first try through Martyn Williams.  

Auckland repeatedly lost their lineout – a problem more often associated with the tourists in the past few weeks. The homeside, the first of the provincial sides to be given a decent chance of beating the Lions, were also failing to take advantage of the strong wind at Eden Park.

Aside from the wind, the conditions were reasonable - heavy rain during the day having eased and it was a mild 15 degrees at kick-off. 

It was not until an attack on 18 minutes that the nerves settled and they showed some class. Joe Rokocoko, last year's All Black golden boy now seemingly forgotten by Graham Henry, was involved in that first attack.  

But a resulting lineout six metres form the Lions' tryline was again lost.  

Hodgson went off injured and, immediately after, Angus MacDonald of Auckland burst through to set up John Afoa, for what looked like the first try of the night. TMO Paddy O'Brien ruled it was held up and the score remained 3-0 to the Lions.  

Ronan O'Gara, taking over the Lions' kicking duties, slotted a penalty from in front of the posts after 25 minutes to make it 6-0. 

Brent Ward for Auckland pulled it back to a 3-point deficit minutes later when the Lions were penalised in the scrum.  

Tempers boiled over as the half came to a close, Englishman Ben Kay being involved in a punch-up, leading to a Lions' penalty being reversed and awarded to Auckland.  

O'Gara put over another penalty to make it 9-3 before Williams took advantage of a Mark Cueto break to score the first try. The conversion was missed on the stroke of half-time.