KEY POINTS:
Northland followed the script developed by Southland yesterday by constructing a fitting outcome to celebrate the milestone of a provincial rugby stalwart in Whangarei today.
By helping to keep Counties-Manukau winless with a 20-10 victory, flanker Justin Collins marked his 100th game for the union in appropriate fashion.
England-bound former All Blacks prop Clarke Dermody celebrated his last game in Invercargill yesterday with a 30-11 Air NZ Cup win over Manawatu.
Northland's triumph also kept them in touch with the dogfight for a playoff position, although the final quarterfinal picture will not be clarified until the final round of the regular season is completed next Sunday.
It is already apparent Counties-Manukau will inherit the wooden spoon from Manawatu, after they endured another frustrating experience in changeable weather conditions in Whangarei.
Although first five-eighth Dean Cummins opened the scoring with an eighth-minute penalty Counties-Manukau were left to chase the game from then on as Northland showed greater presence in the forward exchanges.
Twice held up over the tryline inside the opening quarter, Northland's massive territorial domination finally translated into a try when veteran first-five David Holwell gave Fetu'u Vainikolo enough space to outflank John Folokalafi before the wing dragged Lelia Masaga with him over the line.
Masaga got his own back two minutes later when a downfield kick from Niva Ta'auso bounced into his arms just as the clouds broke in the 23rd minute.
Despite their dominance, Northland had to content with a 37th-minute Daniel Bowden penalty to give them breathing space at halftime but they broke free from a turgid arm wrestle after the break, although handling errors kept Counties-Manukau in the game.
Flanker John Cocker failed to ground a grubber kick in the 46th minute to let the visitors off the hook and wing Glen Martin also let another certain try go begging when he spilled a crossfield kick over the line.
Fortunately for Northland, in between those blemishes centre Tony Koonwaiyou finished off a line break from Jake Paringatai to give the hosts a 10-point buffer after Bowden continued his 100 per cent kicking record with the extras.
By the time the sun returned it was too late for Counties-Manukau to lift themselves from the mire and Northland finished the stronger even though a four-try bonus point proved elusive.
Missing the consolation is likely to be immaterial as eighth-placed Northland still need to beat Waikato in Hamilton next weekend to be assured of securing one of the last two available spots.
NZPA
