Bay Of Plenty 25 Otago 29
KEY POINTS:
Otago ground out a third narrow victory to keep their playoff hopes alive and leave Bay of Plenty as the only winless team.
Despite being outscored three tries to two at Mt Maunganui, the goalkicking accuracy of Charlie Hore and Callum Bruce - who landed all seven attempts between them - served Otago well as they improved to fifth on the standings.
Bay of Plenty, at the foot of the standings, had to content themselves with a bonus point through Charles Baxter's 75th-minute try.
Aside from their goalkickers' 100 per cent success rate, Otago's ability to forge a 17-3 advantage while facing a strong breeze was also instrumental in giving them another slender triumph following three-point victories over Northland and Taranaki.
Bay of Plenty were left to rue their inability to capitalise on a huge territorial advantage inside the first quarter, a deficiency emphasised when fullback Ben Smith raced 60m down the right-hand touch to score behind the goalposts in the 20th minute.
New Zealand sevens representative Adam Thomson, a prominent feature on the blindside flank, then extended Otago's lead by completing a rare attacking foray by palming off first five-eighth Mike Delany to score handy to the goalposts in the 35th minute.
Delany atoned for his defensive lapse three minutes later when he sliced past halfback Chris Smylie and wrong footed Smith for a fine solo try to narrow Otago's lead to 17-10 at the break.
Hore added a 41st-minute penalty but Bay of Plenty then enjoyed their most productive period of the match as blindside flanker Colin Bourke ranged up in midfield to beat two defenders before Delany squared the contest with a 58th-minute penalty.
Under severe pressure, Otago managed to hold their composure and skipped clear courtesy of a trio of Bruce penalties within a 10 minute spell, including one booming 50m effort, as Bay of Plenty's discipline at the breakdown deteriorated.
Out of bonus point range at 29-20 with seven minutes remaining it appeared Bay of Plenty were condemned to endure another pointless outing but Baxter, who earlier squandered a possible try when ignoring a two-man overlap, redeemed himself when eluding the attempted tackles of Brett Mather, Toby Morland and Matt Saunders. Otago, who play Southland in Dunedin next weekend, have 12 points while Bay of Plenty, languishing on two, have a trip to Tasman to contemplate.
Bay of Plenty 25 (M. Delany, C. Bourke, C. Baxter tries; Delany 2 pen, 2 con), Otago 29 (B. Smith, A. Thomson tries; C. Hore 2 pen, 2 con, C. Bruce 3 pen) Ht: 10-17.
