Harbour hand Canterbury first defeat of the season

The upset of the 2014 ITM Cup season. After trailing 14-0 early on Harbour roared into life keeping Canterbury scoreless for over half the game to record a famous 29-24 win in what is the province’s second straight win at QBE Stadium.

“I think there was something a bit more special out there tonight. A bit more passion and a bit more edge,” said experienced hooker James Parsons.

It’s fair to say it was the worst possible start for the hosts. From the first possession a Robbie Robinson kick off his left foot was charged down by Canterbury debutant Nathaniel Apa who scooted away for the first try within twenty seconds.

The Premiership table-toppers continued to heap the pressure up front, which led to their second try of the night from hooker Codie Taylor in the seventh minute.

After the shock of the opening minutes Harbour began to regroup.

“We had to go back to our own jobs and stay moment by moment. We couldn’t change what had just happened it was history,” said Parsons.

Some steady possession began to take its toll, and after a patient build up number 8 Leigh Thompson crossed the line from short distance to bring the score to 14-5 after ten minutes.

With a new found spring in their step Harbour began to up the ante. A great break from the left of the ruck from Matt McGahan unleashed wing Tevita Li. The Massey teenager must’ve read the NZ Herald yesterday morning with an article quoting his lack of spark in recent matches. Li blitzed through the line, ran around the Canterbury fullback and scored under the posts.

An easy conversion from McGahan left the score at 14-12 with around 15 minutes to go.

It didn’t stop there. More dominance at the scrum and breakdown had Harbour on the front foot with half time approaching. It looked like first five Dan Halangahu was in after a great run from close range. Hooker James Parsons was close in support, and the experienced front rower dotted over for his third try of the season to give Harbour a well-deserved 19-14 lead.

“I seem to always appear when the ball is close to the line. I didn’t get too many early in my career but when we’re close I seem to be able to snaffle a bit out,” Parsons said jokingly.

A hamstring injury to Dan Halangahu meant Matt McGahan was forced into first five after the break, while Niko Ratumaitavuki came on at second five.

After a last gasp try saving effort from rookie centre Matt Vaega, McGahan had the opportunity from long range to extend the gap. The 21 year old calmly slotted a 45 metre penalty to push the hosts out to a 22-14 advantage.

Minutes later following on from a stellar opening try, number 8 Leigh Thompson made another great break down the left hand side of the field. It looked as if the North Shore loosie blew an opportunity for another try with two men outside him, but a timely offload to Niko Ratumaitavuki saw the diminutive midfield back cross for Harbour’s bonus point try.

McGahan converted and all of a sudden Harbour had piled on 29 consecutive points to lead by 15 with just under half an hour to go.

The margin was key for the hosts, meaning they needed to score three times if they were to keep their unbeaten record for the season intact.

The red and black men clawed their way back through a converted try from Willi Heinz and a penalty off the boot of Richie Mo’unga to reduce the gap to just five points.

Parsons admits he was more than edgy as Canterbury got close.

“We’ve had some tough ones over the years so there were certainly some nervous moments but you know we had full trust in the group that was out there.”

With two minutes to play all of QBE Stadium was on the edge of their seats. Harbour managed to muscle Canterbury into touch on halfway, and replacement halfback David Bason had the honours of booting the ball into touch off the lineout to seal a historic victory.

“We played the whole 80 minutes to win, which is a good message for us that when we play rather than go into our shell we can get the result,” Parsons said.

On Saturday Harbour have their final home game of the year against Ranfurly Shield holders Hawke’s Bay, and Parsons is hoping for more fantastic support.

“I can’t speak highly enough of those people who turn up week in week out. We probably haven’t given them enough reason to show up in the last few years but they wave their flags and they get us up. That’s why we perform a bit better at home than we do away so if they can show up again on Saturday night that would be great.”

QBE Harbour 29 (Leigh Thompson, Tevita Li, James Parsons, Niko Ratumaitavuki tries; Matt McGahan 3 con, pen) Canterbury 24 (Nathaniel Apa, Codie Taylor, Willi Heinz tries; Richie Mo’unga 2 con, pen).