Mad moment costs Makos [Fairfax]
A last minute try to Taranaki winger Waisake Naholo helped steal a dramatic 31-30 national provincial championship rugby win over the Tasman Makos last night at Nelson's Trafalgar Park.
Tasman appeared to have the game won when they led 30-24 with time up. But a penalty to Taranaki saw them patiently work the ball the length of the field, Naholo eventually bursting through from 30 metres out to leave No 10 Marty McKenzie with the task of kicking the match-winning conversion.
It ended an unbeaten 11-match run by Tasman since September last year, Taranaki having provided the early scoring through a seventh minute penalty to McKenzie.
Taranaki's early defensive line speed kept Tasman's attack in check although line breaks by No 8 Liam Squire and winger Bryce Heem eventually had the home team applying genuine pressure on Taranaki's line. Their only reward was a penalty success to No 10 Marty Banks to level the scores at 3-3 midway through the half.
With Tasman starting to dominate both territory and possession, the pressure and continuity eventually paid off when lively flanker Pete Samu capped off a jinking run to second five-eighth Tom Marshall with a try in the corner. Banks' sideline conversion restored Tasman's lead at 10-6.
The constant pressure once again paid dividends just before the break when a clever Heem chip kick well inside his own half saw the ball travel through several pairs of hands, lock and captain Joe Wheeler looming in support to take the final pass to help put Tasman ahead 17-6 at the break.
Taranaki's lack of possession meant that Tasman were forced to make only 13 first half tacklesas Taranaki continued to kick the ball away.
It took only two minutes after the restart for Taranaki to finally inject some life into their performance when No 8 Blade Thomson finished their most concerted movement of the match with a try in the corner.
Now just 17-11 in arrears, Taranaki inevitably began to show a lot more spark as they kept the ball in hand and applied some genuine pressure on Tasman's defence.
A discernible momentum switch eventually saw big centre Seta Tamanivalu crash across from a 5m attacking scrum to give Taranaki an 18-17 lead after 10 minutes.
Their advantage was short-lived though when a TMO decision ruled in favour of Tasman halfback Jimmy Cowan when he sniped around a ruck on Taranaki's line for Tasman's third try and a 24-18 lead. A further two Banks penalties, to one by McKenzie, put Tasman ahead 30-21 with seven minutes to play.
A fourth McKenzie penalty sent the match into a tense final two minutes at 30-24, leaving Naholo to seal the win with a length of the field try.
Taranaki 31 (Blade Thomson, Seta Tamanivalu, Waisake Naholo tries, Marty McKenzie 4 pens, 2 cons) Tasman 30 (Pete Samu, Joe Wheeler, Jimmy Cowan tries, Marty Banks 3 pens, 3 cons). HT: 6-17
