Hawkes Bay 35 Northland 29
KEY POINTS:
Hail Hawkes Bay.
The Magpies cemented a top eight playoff position with a hard-fought win over Northland in Napier last night. The result just about ends Northland's top eight hopes.
There is still nothing to suggest the Magpies have the potential to upset the top sides, and they went into last night's match on the back of heavy defeats against Auckland and Canterbury.
Despite the doubters and the odd distraction however, Hawkes Bay have kept their heavyweight momentum going in other matches to rumble towards a playoff place.
They may be the ugly duckling success story of the Air New Zealand Cup, but they are sitting pretty in the top echelon of the table, with a tough assignment against Waikato and a very winnable game against Manawatu remaining.
This was a tit-for-tat scoring affair until early in the second half when Hawkes Bay broke away from what always looked like a struggling Northland challenge, with the visitors hit by yellow cards to frontrowers Tony Coughlan and Tim Dow.
Down by 22-27, Northland lost prop Coughlan after he pulled off a despairing, try saving tackle on lock Matt Egan but then transgressed on the ground.
Hawkes Bay piled on the pressure and it brought a try to wing Zac Guildford for a 32-22 advantage. With the Hawkes Bay crowd roaring the Magpies on, it looked an impossible position for Northland.
But they forced a few heroics out of Hawkes Bay in the final stages, the main one from fullback Ben Batger who chased down juggernaut Northland wing Fetu'u Vainikolo.
The match had a tense conclusion, with Northland desperately trying to set up a winning try.
The game ended in the 85th minute, as Northland ran out of steam much to the home crowd's relief.
Hawke's Bay 35 (Z. Guildford 2, K. Lowe, J. Shoemark tries; M. Berquist 3 pen, 3 con)
Northland 29 (T.Dow, C. Tamou, R. Ranger, T. Coughlan tries; D. Holwell pen, 3 con). HT: 20-19.
