QBE Harbour 45 - Auckland 21

The headline says it all! Following the 60 pts QBE Harbour put on Northland last week, HarbOUR BOYS backed that up with an impressive 45-21 victory over Auckland. Built on the back of a solid defensive effort this was a result that others in the competition will be taking note of. Coach Steve Jackson had a wee smile "It was pleasing to post a result like this, based on the hard work the guys have been doing throughout the year. We will take that, but also know we haven't banked any competition points. We wanted to test some of plans and we achieved some of that today".

Auckland got out of the blocks quickly and scored after 6 min. Following a period of sustained pressure Matt Duffie returned the favour, and then from the kick-off the pressure stayed on and Murphy Taramai crossed the chalk to take the score to 14-7. Harbour continued to muscle up and defend when they had to, and with ball in hand troubled Auckland. It was no surprise that 10 minutes later Mark Talea - who had a strong game, went over to take the score to 21-7 at halftime with kicker Matt Vaega faultless from the tee in the first 40.

Harbour made 4 changes at the break. The second half continued much like the first, with sustained pressure from Harbour creating opportunities with Chris Vui scoring and then Mark Talea bagging a second. Harbour made another 8 changes midway through the game which disrupted their flow and allowed Auckland to get on top for the first time in the game. They scored a couple of tries themselves in this period. Once the cobwebs were out, Harbour got back on its impressive role and scored the final two tries of the match with Glen Preston finishing things off on the hooter. The only thing missing from the result was the trophies, that were not played for in the pre-season.

QBE Harbour now prepare themselves for their last pre-season fixture (v Hawkes Bay next Thu 11th) before they kick-off the new competition a week later with a home fixture against Counties Manukau (Thu 18th Aug - 7.35pm kick off)