Relegation staring Waikato in the face
Stunned silence echoed from Waikato’s changing room after North Harbour’s Ben Volavola sensationally kicked the Mooloos one step closer to relegation with an 83rd minute penalty.
Volavola remarkably missed two far easier penalties - either side of Waikato winger Sevu Reece’s failed penalty attempt - in the final eight minutes before his stoppage time winner from almost halfway, and out wide to the left, snatched Harbour a dramatic 13-11 victory in Hamilton on Sunday.
Waikato were ‘‘broken’’ by Volavola’s clutch play because this defeat at FMG Stadium Waikato means they are on the brink of dropping to the championship.
If Auckland beat Canterbury at Eden Park on Friday, Waikato will be relegated before taking the field against Bay of Plenty in Tauranga on Saturday in the final regular round of the Mitre 10 Cup.
Harbour’s victory was their first over the Mooloos in nine years and stretched Waikato’s losing streak to six - the province’s worst ever run of defeats since the national provincial competition began in 1976.
Waikato led 11-3 after Matty Lansdown’s try on the hour but two yellow cards, to Reece and captain James Tucker, in the following five minutes gave Harbour a route back into a tight contest that came to life in the final quarter.
‘‘To go the full 80 and lose like that, it does break you,’’ Waikato first five-eighth Lansdown said.
‘‘We got out to a bit of a lead but went down to 13 men and that proved to be a changing point in the game.’’
Lansdown’s first Waikato try sparked confrontations between opposing players after Matt Duffie’s late challenge, but Reece lost the plot and landed a cheap shot on Harbour’s fullback.
He was rightfully sinbinned, so Harbour were awarded a penalty from the resulting restart and that allowed them to immediately pile pressure on Waikato’s line, which led to Tucker seeing yellow for a cynical infringement.
Duffie then expertly finished in the right corner and Harbour’s replacement first-five Volavola’s touchline conversion made it a one-point ball game with 12 minutes left.
Waikato coach Sean Botherway lamented their lack of discipline after Lansdown’s score put them in pole position to grab a crucial victory that would have seen them move off the bottom of the premier- ship ahead of the final round.
‘‘One thing compounded the next and we gave them too many chances,’’ he said.
‘‘This was a game we should have won and needed to win, but we handed it to them.’’
Tasman had done Waikato a huge favour by beating Auckland 31-18 in Nelson prior to kick-off in Hamilton, but the Mooloos didn’t take advantage.
Their losing bonus point against Harbour - their first competition point since September 3 - leaves them bottom and two points below sixth-placed Auckland, who will relegate Waikato if they beat premiership leaders Canterbury.
The Mooloos would have knocked Auckland down to seventh - and the one relegation spot - had they held their nerve against Harbour, who climbed above Tas- man into third place having already ensured their semifinal spot.
Waikato are perilously close to falling to the championship and losing to Bay of Plenty would equal the province’s worst ever season - of two wins and eight defeats - back in 1985.
The Mooloos haven’t played in the second division of the provincial structure since 1986.