Stalemate as strugglers share spoils

Manawatu's Tane Tuipulotu is tackled by Nigel Watson of Counties Manukau. Phil Walter / Getty Images

Counties Manukau 25 Manawatu 25

Manawatu threw everything they had at Counties Manukau tonight in search of their first win in Air New Zealand Cup rugby only to come away with a 25-25 result at Mount Smart Stadium.

A draw was a lose-lose situation for both sides in the pool A repechage match.

Unbeaten Bay of Plenty, who top the group after beating Hawke's Bay 35-7 tonight, will now go through regardless of the outcome of their trip to Palmerston North for their final pool match on Thursday night.

At Mt Smart, Manawatu deservedly led 20-15 at the break but tries to Lelia Masaga and Kane Hancy - two minutes after he substituted captain Ben Meyer - put the home team into the lead.

However, Manawatu's replacement pivot Graham Smith made an even quicker impact than Hancy, dotting down to tie the scores with nine minutes to play.

Smith handled three times in a sweeping movement but missed a wide angled conversion as both sides queued up to squander match-winning opportunities.

Steelers fullback Troy Nathan, who lost the ball over the line in the 77th minute, had one last shot for glory a minute later but his 55-metre penalty attempt fell short.

Manawatu seemed to be following a familiar script when an elementary error gifted wing Masaga his first try in the fifth minute.

Simeli Tuiteci opted out of taking an innocuous bomb launched from Blair Feeney's side of halfway, and then slipped over as his opposite toed ahead and collected the bounce before Argentine fullback Francisco Bosch could react.

However, after that meltdown the Turbos got into gear and more than held their own against a Steelers side that has never quite reached pre-season expectations.

The slender Bosch helped put Manawatu in front when a display of soccer skills associated with his homeland saw him kick high 10m from his line and then chip ahead three times before diving over the line for a sparkling individual try.

The bounce of the ball again defied Counties Manukau when a handy Matty James penalty cannoned off an upright into the hands of Tuiteci who released Tane Tuipulotu to cross by the posts and give the underdogs a 17-8 buffer.

Rangy lock Andrew van der Heijden narrowed the margin on the half hour but another James penalty gave Manawatu the chance to defend a halftime lead for the first time in the competition.

They hung on until the 56th minute when Hancy skirted around Masaga to nail a bonus point.

Counties Manukau 25 (Lelia Masaga 2, Andrew van der Heijden, Kane Hancy tries; Troy Nathan pen, con)
Manawatu 25 (Francisco Bosch, Tane Tuipulotu, Graham Smith tries; Matty James 2 pen 2 con).

HT: 20-15 Manawatu

- NZPA