Manawatu cruised all the way to the final. The last encounter between the two sides saw Manawatu get up by two touchdowns. Manawatu got off to a good start with a scoop by their middle who passed and put Kylie Joe away for their first try.
North Harbor struck back with a clever scoop and step by Alicia Wall who then threw a long ball for Galilee Garmonsway to score out wide. Neither side could gain the ascendency until the 12th minute when Manawatu’s Michaela Hemopo ran a perfect hole to score their second touchdown.
Harbour replied in the 16th minute, finding space and running a good hole for a try and evening it all up 2-2 moments before the break.
Manawatu started off strongly with a tap off move that saw Kayla Iwikau sweeping around the back to score in space 3-2. But Harbour weren’t going to let Manawatu get away and Grace Dallimore evened the scores with a brilliant individual try.
The teams then went try for try: Manawatu’s Grace Mcpherson Newton scooped from dummy half and off-loaded a magic ball to put Maggie Leota in to score; North Harbour’s Anien Bester threw a long ball for Stacy Martin to score; Kateraina Ahipene then decided to take on Manawatu’s defence – she stepped and went through to put Harbour in the lead for the first time.
Vaine Greig put Manawatu back on equal terms running a great hole and then Michaela Hemopo put Manawatu in front as she put on a great body swerve to beat her opponent and score. Hayley Sharp put the nail in the coffin to score in the corner and take Manawatu out to a two-point lead.
North Harbor had one more go at Manawatu as they created some space out wide for Galilee Garmonsway to score, but the final whistle had the better of them and Manawatu were victorious 7-6.
Last Modified on 06/03/2010 11:55