It’s so close yet so far for BOP
A gallant Bay of Plenty fell just short of the upset they needed to force their way into the Farah Palmer Cup premiership semifinals.
Up against top qualifiers Canterbury in the final game of the round robin in Tauranga yesterday, the Volcanix needed a win against the odds to knock the Wellington Pride out of the fourth and final playoffs spot.
And in the end they nearly produced it, before eventually losing 33-31.
Down 26-12 at the break, the hosts produced a superb second-half fightback, but ultimately left their run too late with two tries in the final five minutes.
Kalyn Takitimu-cook did have the chance to draw the game, when attempting to convert Renee Wickliffe’s last-gasp try in the right corner, however her effort just slipped under the crossbar.
The match will serve as a wake-up call for Canterbury, who finish the regular season 6-0 and in this weekend’s semifinals will host a Pride side that narrowly went down to Auckland at Eden Park on Saturday.
A 76th minute try from replacement Cilia-marie Po’e proved the difference maker for Auckland, who edged the contest 26-25 to set up a semifinal on the road against Waikato.
Auckland had trailed throughout the second half with Wellington looking wellplaced for the win when replacement Ivana Samani scored in the 53rd minute to make it 25-12.
The Storm showed plenty of grit to fight back from 13 points down with late tries to centre Mele Hufanga and Po’e helping them regain the lead.
In a thrilling finish, Wellington attacked the Auckland try line on the fulltime whistle, but couldn’t get over.
Defending champions Waikato, who had already secured second spot, warmed up for the semifinals with a 32-12 win over Counties Manukau in Pukekohe on Saturday.
Meanwhile, North Harbour and Northland both progressed through to the semifinals of the second tier championship competition with wins at the weekend.
North Harbour beat Tasman 31-20 in Blenheim on Saturday, while Northland powered to a 31-19 victory over Taranaki in Whangārei yesterday.