Nelson Bays give champs a wake-up

Second division

Hawkes Bay's shock loss to Nelson Bays may prove a huge aid in their quest for another second division title.

Nelson Bays' 34-32 victory left them top of the table and will have given Hawkes Bay, unbeaten for 36 games, a wake-up for the semifinals next week.

Nelson Bays will host North Otago on Saturday and Hawkes Bay will meet Counties-Manukau 24 hours later in Napier.

North Otago were unconvincing in beating East Coast 28-20 in Ruatoria and Counties-Manukau would have got little from their 68-14 pasting of Thames Valley in Paeroa.

Manawatu ended their dismal season with an uninspiring 28-8 victory over Wanganui in Palmerston North.

Hawkes Bay, often the schoolyard bully in the second division in recent years, were left with noses bloodied and heads bowed this time, thanks mainly to Nelson Bays centre Aaron Kimura's 19-point haul.

He was an influential figure and it was his converted try five minutes from time that settled it.

Flanker Mark Bright, props Ben May and Shane Parata, and captain and hooker Gavin Briggs were also to the fore for Nelson Bay.

It was a patchy effort from Hawkes Bay, who conceded too many turnovers and penalties.

Midfield backs Karl Broughton and Cory Aporo had strong games for Hawkes Bay, while Lua Lokotui, Mutu Ngarimu and Nui Bartlett were the pick of their forwards.

Counties-Manukau piled on 10 tries against Thames Valley, who ended the campaign without a win and having conceded 510 points in eight matches.

Counties-Manukau trailed 6-5 after 30 minutes but three quick tries turned things around and they led 26-6 at the interval.

East Coast forced North Otago to work hard for their success.

North Otago were down 11-15 at halftime before scoring 10 unanswered points within 10 minutes of the restart.

East Coast closed the gap to 20-21 through a try to hooker Derek Leefe before North Otago first five-eighth Ryan Brambry capped a solid game with a try under the crossbar.

Third division

Wairarapa-Bush will head into their semifinal against Mid-Canterbury on Saturday knowing they have the measure of their rivals.

They beat Mid-Canterbury 26-22 in Ashburton yesterday to finish the round robin in second place behind Poverty Bay and earn themselves a playoff in Masterton.

Poverty Bay warmed up for their playoff against Horowhenua-Kapiti by casting aside West Coast 55-24 in Greymouth. Horowhenua-Kapiti had a solid workout before prevailing 22-17 over South Canterbury in Timaru.

King Country overcame a slow start to beat winless Buller 38-15 in Westport.

Wairarapa-Bush trailed 8-7 at halftime in what was a tight tussle throughout and the match ended with Mid-Canterbury being held up over the tryline.

Poverty Bay confirmed their favouritism for the title by racking up seven tries against West Coast. Horowhenua-Kapiti recovered from a 17-5 deficit to beat South Canterbury.

The power of the King Country forwards was decisive in Westport, where Buller led 15-10 at halftime before relaxing.

- NZPA

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