Canterbury tap off, but Counties Manukau put on some good defence to keep them out in the opening exchanges. Three minutes in though, Canterbury’s #3 caught Counties Manukau offside and she was able to throw a long ball to #15 to score the first try.
Three minutes later Canterbury’s #7 comes on from the sub box at pace and passes to #14 who dumps, #7 scoops from the ground and passes to #16 who touches down and gives Canterbury a 2-0 lead.
Counties Manukau finally get some good yards together and began to put Canterbury on the back foot. #6 saw her opportunity to attack; she got hold of the ball and put on a great body swerve and dive for a fine try.
Canterbury his back soon after when their #7 created opportunity, picking up from dummy and running across field, switching a pass with #5 who dots down in the middle for a 3-1 Halftime lead.
The second half began in style when County Manukau’s #5 threw a big sucker dummy pass which all Canterbury players fell for, and waltzed over the line to start the Counties comeback 3-2.
Manukau created another overlap down the left hand flank to catch Canterbury sleeping. A pass to #12 saw her courageously dive in the corner to score and tie the game at 3-3.
Canterbury hit the lead again when their #10 took on the Counties defence, diving and scoring under their feet. In the 39th minute Counties create such a large overlap three players could have scored and in a flash it was all equal again 4-4 when the final siren sounded.
A tense drop off came next. Canterbury got the tap off and drove to the line with #3 taking on all the responsibility to step and dive for a great try. Counties get a chance to tap off and made it to the line, but Canterbury’s defence was too good and they held out to win 5-4.
Last Modified on 03/03/2010 11:42
