Late try gives Wellington narrow win

Wellington have once again left it late to win a Farah Palmer Cup match.

After edging Bay of Plenty last week courtesy of a last-gasp try, the Pride picked up their most impressive result of the Premiership campaign by beating Counties Manukau 38-36 in similar fashion at Westpac Stadium yesterday.

Black Ferns lock Joanah Ngan-Woo was the hero for Wellington, scrambling over for a try with only four minutes remaining to level the score 36-all, before Amanda Rasch slotted the subsequent conversion.

Counties looked to have won the game when Lavinia Tauhalaliku sprinted clear of the defence and scored in the righthand corner. But the visitors were unable to withstand Wellington’s late rally, with Shontelle Woodman’s 75th minute yellow card forcing them to defend frantically with only 14 players.

Elsewhere, there was a thriller at Central Energy Trust Arena as Chelsea Alley slotted a late drop goal to give Waikato a dramatic Farah Palmer Cup, week three:

■ Hawke’s Bay 39 (Moomooga Palu 2, Michaela Baker, Kathleen Brown, Chanel Huddleson, Tori Iosefo tries; Sylvia Brockman con, pen; Krysten Cottrell 2 con) North Harbour 10 (Olivia Ward-Duin try; Sophie Fisher con, pen).

■ Tasman 36 (Steph Mitchell, Tamara Silcock, Rebecca Kersten 2, Wairakau Greig tries; Hayley Hutana 4 con, pen) Taranaki 22 (Iritana Hohaia, Lavenia NaugaGrey, Alesha Williams, Chelsea Fowler tries; Hohaia con).

■ Waikato 15 (Lonita Ngalu-Lavemei, Donna Reynolds tries; Chelsea Alley con, drop goal) Manawatu 12 (Carys Dallinger, Rangimarie Sturmey tries; Selica Winiata con).

■ Otago 40 (Julia Gorinski, Kilisitina Moata’ane, Amy du Plessis 2, Sheree Hume, Hannah Stolba tries; Hume 5 con) Northland 7 (Savannah Bodman try; Kararaina Wira-Kohu con).

■ Auckland 28 (Isla Norman-Bell, Kiri Demant, Patricia Maliepo, Nataliah Moors tries; Maliepo 4 con) Bay of Plenty 19 (Kristy Yule, Nadia Flavell, Sapphire Tapsell tries; Tapsell 2 con).

■ Wellington 38 Counties Manukau 36.

15-12 win over Manawatu¯ .

Auckland bounced back from last week’s defeat to Canterbury to beat Bay of Plenty 28-19 at Rugby Park, outscoring the opposition four tries to three.

Rebecca Kersten inspired Tasman to a 36-22 win against Taranaki at Yarrow Stadium. The winger, who has returned from a season playing sevens in Japan, set up a spectacular try for Tamara Silcock and before scoring

two of her own as Tasman led 26-0 at halftime.

Championship leaders Otago continued their perfect start to the new season, running in six tries to secure a comfortable 40-7 win over newcomers Northland at Trigg Stadium.

But chasing Otago hard are Hawke’s Bay who beat North Harbour 39-10 thanks to a double from reserve prop Moomooga Palu.