By Wynne Gray
Daryl Lilley's 80th minute drop goal cost leaders Auckland an NPC victory they seemed assured of in Christchurch last night.
In a scene much like the World Cup final of 1995, the Auckland players sagged to the ground and stared at the scoreboard in disbelief. They will be talking
for a long time about this one which got away in injury time.
The visitors were leading by a solitary point for the last quarter of the match but their control seemed so strong that Canterbury looked as though they would slip back in the race for the semifinals.
But as the match drew to a close, utility back Lilley - playing last night on the right wing - slotted in behind a ruck and drove a 30m dropped goal for the victory.
It was reminiscent of the hang-tough attitude Canterbury and the Crusaders have delivered in the last few seasons.
Most importantly for Canterbury it pulled them within a point of Auckland at the head of the table and gave them a crucial impetus towards a home semifinal.
Auckland's crunching defence, which had conceded just two tries in their previous four games, was just as impressive but they lacked the final bite on attack to make their trip south more memorable.
A late withdrawal for Auckland was lock Charles Riechelmann, who reinjured his ribs during the warm-up. His place went to Dean Bassett but it did not hamper Auckland's lineout and forward drills in the first spell.
Both Bassett and Leo Lafaiali'i made lineout life for Canterbury very difficult. Hooker Matt Sexton was celebrating his 100th game for the province but had great trouble hitting his jumpers.
That problem, Auckland's huge defence and Leon MacDonald's criminal neglect of the sideline several times from free kicks placed huge pressure on Canterbury.
Canterbury only made inroads into the opposition 22 a couple of times and on each occasion Auckland infringed and Ben Blair goaled the penalty.
By contrast Auckland camped down in red and black territory but only had a Michael Jones try and Adrian Cashmore conversion to show for that territorial dominance.
The try came from a scrum when Xavier Rush ran blind and his speed got him past the initial defenders to link with Ofisa Tonu'u, who found Michael Jones in clear space on an inside track.
Somehow Canterbury held on to just a single point deficit at the break and Auckland must have been puzzled by their inability to put more points on their old foes.
To some extent Auckland hurt themselves. Mark Carter, Jones and Rush were a formidable defensive wall, but too often they and teammates jumped the offside line too early.
A third Blair penalty just after the break put Canterbury back in front again but the young fullback missed two other kicks soon after, both from very handy positions.
In between came the only other moment of high drama as Auckland wing Caleb Ralph was denied a try when Hawke and his touch judge could not decide whether he or the retreating Mark Mayerhofler had got the first touch in goal.
Had the pair been allowed to study a television replay they would have seen Ralph toe on James Kerr's wild pass and although the ball corkscrewed away from him in-goal, Ralph managed to press it for a legitimate touchdown.
Cashmore edged Auckland in front though with a penalty before the final quarter of sapping tension and Lilley's dramatic finale.
Canterbury 12 ( B Blair 3 pen, D Lilley, dropped goal). Auckland 10 (M Jones try, A Cashmore con, pen). Halftime: 6-7.
By Wynne Gray
Daryl Lilley's 80th minute drop goal cost leaders Auckland an NPC victory they seemed assured of in Christchurch last night.
In a scene much like the World Cup final of 1995, the Auckland players sagged to the ground and stared at the scoreboard in disbelief. They will be talking
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