North Harbour started strongly and attacked Canterbury’s line for close to five minutes. Whenever Canterbury got the ball they could not get out of their half, but their defence was strong enough to hold Harbour out. In the 12th minute Canterbury’s #3 finally broke the deadlock as she produced a quick dump pass with #5 to score.
It was touch and go for the rest of the half with no other tries being scored and Canterbury in the lead.
North Harbour came back into it in the second half when after a penalty, #13 tapped and dived over to level the scores. Canterbury were back on top when their #6 broke the defensive line and threw a long ball for #5 to score. But Harbour were here to play and their #1 produced a great play, throwing a big dummy, splitting the line and running thirty metres to score.
Canterbury hit the lead again when their # 3 created space to put #14 away for a fine try and a 3-2 lead. With one minute to play, North Harbour pulled off a miracle try when #13 combined with #7 to dive over and equal it up for another drop off.
The intensity was high and both teams started off with five players each. Canterbury got down to the line but North Harbour’s defence shut them out. Harbour got down to the line but the great communication skills by the Canterbury team was enough to keep them out. The siren sounded and each team dropped a player. Canterbury #7’s takes the ball and turns the Harbour defence inside out and runs 20 meters with North Harbour’s #6 on her tail to make the touch.
The clock keeps ticking and soon the teams are down to only three players each. In the decisive moment of the match, Harbour #5’s made an individual break and three Canterbury girls turned to chase her but she has too much pace for all of them to score the try and clinch a thrilling 4-3 win for North Harbour.
Last Modified on 03/03/2010 15:45