Scorching Steelers romp past Auckland. By Anthony Momoemausu The Counties Manukau Steelers have signalled their playoff intentions after disposing of nearby rivals Auckland in a dominant 41-18 victory in the final home game of the ITM Cup season. With plenty to play for between both unions the much-anticipated match at ECOLight Stadium in Pukekohe doubled as the return of dual international Sonny Bill Williams who debuted for the province, and also the last home game for a fan favourite Bundee Aki who departs at the end of the season. It took two minutes for the Steelers to open the scoring when first five-eighth Ahsee Tuala knocked over the penalty after showing some solid defence to earn a turnover thanks to Maama Vaipulu. However, Auckland managed to answer back with a try minutes later when prop Ofa Tuungafasi rumbled across as a reward for some lead up work by the forwards. Not to be undone the Counties forwards werent about to shown up as they muscled up against their counterparts. The Steelers tight forwards featured frequently in a superb attacking phase to put themselves in a scoring position. Again, Counties engine room forced the turnover from a defensive scrum to put more pressure on the Aucklanders. Eventually the pressure told on the visitors as a back-peddling scrum saw halfback Junior Poluleuligaga earned himself a 10 minute break in the sin bin after intentionally knocking the ball on which resulted in a penalty try. Both teams continued to battle away as scoring opportunities presented itself, although the Steelers would strike right before halftime as the in-form live wire August Pulu attacked the Auckland defence before launching an accurate cut out pass to a unmarked Frank Halai. The Steelers wingers try extended the hosts lead to 15-5 as they went into the half time break. Auckland were first to post points in the second stanza through first five Gareth Anscombe as centre George Moala suffered a sickening head clash with Tuungafasi in an attempted tackle. The injury enforced break didnt halt any of the Steelers momentum as Tuala busted through Auckland defenders to score a superb solo try to push their advantage out further. Anscombe would slot his second penalty to keep Auckland in touch on the scoreboard but it didnt take long before Counties Manukau cashed in again to bag their bonus point try with Halai crossing for his second try of the match. The Steelers showed that they werent done and looked to be in a try scoring mood as impressive halfback Pulu was on hand to score the fifth try of the night after a sneaky nudge ahead by substitute Sam Henwood. To their credit Auckland battled on as they finally breached the tough Counties defence with replacement Jack Whetton crossing after some sustained attack. The Steelers were hard done by when a try was disallowed to Andy Muirhead but the couldnt deny the try right on full time when Henwood powered over to cap off a stunning victory for the Steelers. For the Counties Manukau outfit, they will look to regroup once more to produce another fine performance against the competitions surprise package the Tasman Makos. The match will be played at Lansdowne Park in Blenheim this Sunday with kickoff at 4.35pm. Score Summary Counties Manukau: 41 (Halai 2, penalty try, Tuala, Pulu, Henwood tries; Tuala pen, con, Nanai-Williams con, Stanley 2 con) Auckland: 18 (Tuungafasi, Whetton tries; Anscombe 2 pen, con) As it Happened. Minute. Match Detail. Score. 2. Tuala pen. 3-0 8. Tuungafasi try. 3-5 21. Penalty try. 8-5 22. Tuala con. 10-5 37. Halai try. 15-5 Half time. 45. Anscombe pen. 15-8 49. Tuala try. 20-8 50. Nanai-Williams con. 22-8 51. Anscombe pen. 22-11 55. Halai try. 27-11 66. Pulu try. 32-11 67. Stanley con. 34-11 69. Whetton try. 34-16 70. Anscombe con. 34-18 80. Henwood try. 39-18 80. Stanley con. 41-18 Full time.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 10:43:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015