Tries: T Morland, K Hesketh, A Thomson,
C Bruce, C Clare, J Ryan, M Saunders
Cons: N Evans (4), C Bruce (2)
Pens: N Evans, C Bruce (2)

The usual wordsmith who has made the "Match Reports" section of our remarkable website a testament to his editorial brilliance is sadly unavailable due to depression and the rapid onset of the debilitating illness "Harbour-fatigue syndrome".

I am a fat man with butt-hair similar to that of a particularly coarse Hessian sack. What relevance that has is unclear.

However, I am deeply saddened with the performance of a side that in recent weeks had conquered its own Everest but has slid back to base-camp quicker than Hillary on the back of an unsuspecting arthritic Sherpa.

It seems a long time ago that a truck full of hero's carried the Ranfurly Shield down a majestic Hurstmere Road, lined with people who have no intention to go to the game but thanked them enthusiastically for the extra 15 minutes lunch-break.

This team it would appear has little regard for the fans that do turn up and even smaller regard for themselves and their playing future.

What I witnessed on Sunday was the worst performance of any Harbour side I have had the misfortune to see. They embarrassed the Union and made a mockery of a crowd, while not large, had made the effort to leave their Bathurst TV saturation and witty Holden beer coolers at home. While drivers of the "Great Race" crashed and burned on Mt Panorama, little did we know that the same lack of skill in handling and judgment was to play out at North Harbour Stadium a few hours later.

Fast forward to the kick-off; "Williams the Terrible", catches the ball, passes inside to a noted kicker who puts it out for touch a further 20m or so up the field. This would have been sensible if it had been true. Williams caught the ball, shuffled sideways and threw a pass to "Noble the Fat", who proceeded to knock it forward with his bloated mitt.

Not a good start and thus laid the foundation for a performance that will not be remembered fondly north of the bridge. We had a few chances in that first-half through good play from Wulfman and Luke but couldn't quite score the 5 points when it was urgently required.

With ten or so minutes to go in the first-half with the score at 8-0 to Otago, most reasonable fans would have gone into the break thinking that was an acceptable result.

Conceding four converted tries within that ten minute time-frame was perhaps a little unacceptable.

Half-time: 36-0. Fuck. (Last try 22 seconds prior to the break)

The second-half saw us claw back three tries but letting in another 20 points, which in a nutshell was disappointing.

Full-time: 56-21. (Bye, bye semi-finals)

I'm struggling for the appropriate adjectives to describe what I saw and what I am feeling so I think I'll just piss off for a beer.

So ended 2006, a year where we got the Shield but in reality let an opportunity to really make some headway pass once again through our fingers. Pollock on the radio this morning said about the same and good on him for not hiding behind his usual baffling vitriol. Sadly someone in the Union needs to be held accountable and I still am of the opinion that the current management structure lacks the innate ability to carry us forward.

Blame also needs to be shouldered by the players. We have too many "athletes" who are not up to performing on the NZ provincial stage. We have major problems at scrum-time and line-outs. Harbour has always placed an emphasis on back "super-stars" and has largely neglected the forwards who need to perform well if the rest are to shine.

In summary we were again the bridesmaid in this new competition and let's hope the great effort in winning the "Log-o-wood" is not used as an excuse to keep under-performing members of North Harbour Rugby.