Mooloo men overcome Lions
23rd August 2011 09:03PM
Waikato have bounced back to keep their ITM Cup finals hopes alive with a hard fought 31-27 victory over the Wellington Lions at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton tonight.
A result tonight was vital for both sides considering how tight the competition is with one round remaining.
Wellington were off to a fast start when centre Alapati Leiua exposed the Waikato defence when a defender raced out of the line around allowing Leuia to score the night's first try.
Lima Sopoaga converted the try to give the Lions a 7-0 lead after three minutes.
The Mooloo men were on the attack when first five Sam Christie sliced through to put his side in a great attacking position.
Phases later, referee Bryce Lawrence penalised the Lions, while in the process sending flanker Scott Fuglistaller to the sin-bin for an early tackle.
Waikato capitalised on the man advantage when winger Henry Speight dived in at the corner for the score.
Fullback Trent Renata was unable to convert the try as the men from the country's capital held a 7-5 lead.
Both Renata and Sopoaga traded further penalties with halftime approaching to make the score 10-8.
Wellington survived a scare when Waikato's dynamic halfback, Tawera Kerr-Barlow caught the Lions defence napping to go close to scoring only for the TMO to award no try.
The Lions weren't so lucky from the resulting scrum after a lovely set piece move saw Mooloo centre Save Tokula crash over at the base of the uprights.
With the Renata conversion Waikato hit the lead for the first time to lead 15-10.
On the stroke of halftime, Wellington hit back when a great individual effort saw second five-eighth Michael Hobbs stroll through the defence to race 30 metres to score.
Sopoaga slotted the extras to retake the lead as the Lions went into halftime with a slim 17-15 lead.
The first ten minutes of the second half as a real tussle with the only scoring action seeing both kickers add further penalties with Wellington still leading 20-18.
Waikato were back in front through the boot of Renata when he nailed two more penalties to give them a 24-20 lead
The Mooloo's built on their lead when Christie bust the line then gave a slick offload to Jackson Willison who drew in the final defender to allow Tim Mikkelson to finish in the corner.
Renata was able to convert Mikkelson's try and stretch the lead to 31-20 as the home-side went in search for the four try bonus point.
Both sides continued to attack after the fulltime siren as both looked to secure crucial bonus points.
Wellington managed to have the final say with a length of the field try, highlighted when Sopoaga made a break down the sideline then showed great awareness to offload to fullback Apoua Stewart to score.
Referee Lawrence signalled the end of the game as the mighty Waikato Mooloos got the needed result with a 31-27 victory.
The home-side proved to be too strong in the second-half dominating territory and possession as they came back from a slim halftime deficit.
Waikato have a few days as they prepare to take on big city rivals Auckland at Waikato Stadium on Saturday afternoon with kickoff at 2.35pm
Score Summary
Waikato: (Speight, Tokula, Mikkelson Tries, Renata Pen Renata 2 Con)
Wellington: (Leuia, Hobbs, Stewart Tries, Sopoaga 2 Pen, Sopoaga 3 Con)
Halftime: 15-17 Wellington
Reserves
16. Vance Elliot on for Cumming-Toone in the 69th min
17. Nathan White on for May in the 63rd min
18. Chris Middleton on for Lynn in the 75th min
19. Zak Hohneck on for Holah in the 72nd min
20. Brendon Leonard on for Kerr-Barlow in the 69th min
21. Rena Schuster
22. Frank Halai on for Speight in the 75th min
23. Ted Tauroa
