Surprise, surprise!

Wow! What a performance!

Saturday night versus Bay Of Plenty was one of those games when you remember just why you support your team through thick and thin. Ok, some people have been upset with the way I have called out some of the piss poor performances this season, but Saturday night was a taste of "what could have been".

We were excellent in that first half and Bay Of Plenty were shell shocked. By the way the woman in the BOP top was bollocking the players when she stormed down from her seat, it was clear for all to see that the Bay players had not expected the beating that was being dished out. Harbour looked hungry from the kick off and whilst we were missing Smylie and Tuitavake, McAllister brought a calmness in midfield and Tuigamala took his chance on his debut start. His passing was crisp and in front of players so everyone was taking the ball at pace and not having to check their stride.

King was unbelievable in the line-out, open and at ruck time and Boric and Chamberline were making a real nuisance of themselves. Even Filo Pastry was getting in on the action. Mayhew has come on well this year (credit where credit's due) and he looked to move the point of contact every time he got the ball in open play. <Editor: Mayhew had a very strong first half and was probably a little unlucky to miss out on the points this week>

The backs were pushing the ball wide at every opportunity and Wulf and Pisi looked sharp when they had the ball in hand. At the back, McPhee was controlling the territory well and Harbour were dominant. In fact the only concern I had was with our 1st 5. Mr Harris (and Mr Botica on the bench) is just not good enough and the Bay Of Plenty 1st 5 showed all who were watching, the worth of a controlling player. Harris always looked like he was one pass away from throwing an intercept and his tackle (for me) was soft. That said, he got the ball moving and the backs did good things.

To be up by 25 points at the half was a tremendous effort and the boys deserved due credit.

The second half was nervy affair as Harbour held on against a Bay Of Plenty side who were obviously hurting from the rogering they had been given in the first 40 minutes. They scored a good push over try and Harbour did well to put three points on the board whilst Filo Pastry was in the bin (for a cheap shot, late hit on a man without the ball). The ever present Boric was continuing to do good stuff around the park and King continued to play like a man possessed. Who didn't enjoy his lung bursting run down the far touchline, and if the chip and chase had worked out, it could have been the solo try of the season.

The Bay Of Plenty fans quipped away all game. They tried like hell to lift there team but on the night they came up against a big juggernaut called Harbour. What says we win our last two games of the season?? It wouldn't surprise me with the unpredictability of this team.

Mairangi Murray from the terraces!