Poverty Bay feeling prosperous

POVERTY BAY 22 HOROWHENUA 13

Poverty Bay scored 19 unanswered points in the second half of a bruising semifinal against Horowhenua-Kapiti in Gisborne yesterday, to earn a home third division rugby final.

The visitors threatened in the first 25 minutes and had Poverty Bay under the hammer a number of times, but despite trailing 3-10 at the break the winners controlled the exchanges in the last 40 minutes.

In the first stanza, Horowhenua's well-drilled pack drove in unison and made big metres with snappy passing and hard running. They scored two grand tries and a vital penalty, while Poverty Bay's only reply was a penalty from first five-eighth Scott Leighton.

But the home side upped the tempo immediately in the second half with Leighton on song. He rifled four penalties, kicked a wonderful dropped goal and came close to scoring two tries. He finished with 17 points and has now scored 91 points from his six appearances for Poverty Bay this season.

NPC fixtures, results and standings
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