KEY POINTS:
Northland 20
Counties Manukau 10
Counties Manukau have claimed the national championship wooden spoon with a round left to play.
Their defeat at Northland yesterday left them stranded at the bottom of the ladder with two competition points, courtesy of a round three draw against North Harbour.
Their season: no wins, no bonus points and now, six points adrift of Bay of Plenty, no hope of improving their lot in life.
A campaign to forget.
Yesterday in Whangarei, their best efforts were foiled by their usual failings, most notably the absence of any kind of offensive threat.
The Steelers have managed just 109 points this season, while conceding close to three times that figure.
Yesterday, Northland could have run up a cricket score. That they didn't was a testament to Counties' desperation. But that desperation was ultimately no match for Northland's powerful backline.
After an early exchange of penalties, Northland's exciting wing prospect Fetu'u Vainikolo upstaged opposition flier Lelia Masaga to score after a surging run.
Masaga, so often the Steelers' lone offensive threat, got his side back on terms by chasing a clever kick from centre Niva Ta'suso. But at 10-10 an extended downpour put the dampeners on a match that had been shaping as an open, expansive affair.
Northland gradually wrested control but were either denied by the gritty Counties defence or their own bumbling.
Northland loose forward Jake Paringatai was a potent threat and he finally made that break that sealed the result, busting the Counties line before offloading for Tony Koonwaiyou to finish powerfully.
The result took Northland into eighth spot, level on points with Taranaki and North Harbour. But with a trip to Waikato to come in this weekend's final round, they will be outsiders to scrape into a playoff spot.
Taranaki, who play Counties in the final round robin match on Sunday, appear to have the easiest draw of the three sides.
