by JOH GASPARICH
North Shore coach Chris Tankard's offer of a keg of beer and box of champagne was the heady concoction for Mahurangi to beat Silverdale 23-21, allowing Shore to sneak through the backdoor into the North Harbour club rugby playoffs.
The other four playoff sides are Takapuna, Kumeu, Glenfield and
Marist.
To make the playoffs, Shore had to beat higher-rated Marist - mission accomplished 19-18 - and Mahurangi had to knock Silverdale out of the top five.
So Tankard offered his Mahurangi counterpart the beer and champagne deal. The incentive was not really necessary. Feelings run high when neighbours Silverdale and Mahurangi meet, and third-from-bottom Mahurangi picked up their fourth win from the past five matches.
Prop Nick Huggett and lock Darren Davies worked in tandem in the tight and loose, while midfield back Nigel Watson was the difference between two even backlines.
Shore and Marist, minus their stars away with the Harbour rep team, produced a thriller. Marist worked out to a handy 18-5 halftime lead, but lost tactician Bart Hoggard with an injured hand early in the second half.
Digging deep, Shore produced a new pack leader in former Bay of Plenty representative, 36-year-old Kenny Whatuira.
Flanker Andrew Spraggon got to the loose ball first, tackles were made and James Hincho and Jono Lynch were set up for second-half tries.
Takapuna remained unbeaten, hammering Northcote 65-7, Kumeu held second in beating Navy 55-17 and Glenfield progressed to the third playoff spot in beating Helensville 40-22. Massey beat East Coast Bays 18-6.
In Saturday's playoffs, Kumeu are at home to Glenfield, Marist host North Shore and Takapuna have the bye.John Gasparich
