By Myles Hume
Canterbury have been pipped by a determined Bay of Plenty side as the visitors sparked a spirited come back Mt Maunganui’s Baypark Stadium.
After a sluggish start by the red-and-blacks, where they were down by 26 points at the break, they were able to put on four second half tries to put the match up in the air in the dying stages.
A three day turn around could have been the excuse for Canterbury’s first half performance as handling errors, missed tackles and poor decisions sabotaged their game allowing Bay of Plenty to score two tries and lethal first five-eighth Chris Noakes to kick 19 points.
The 31-35 final score line was a far cry from the first half performance but Canterbury were able to salvage two bonus points to keep pole position in the premiership division.
As Canterbury’s Luke Ramano burrowed over in the 44th minute from a pick and drive surge, Canterbury looked to spark a revival that would take it down to the wire.
Six minutes later it was half back Willi Heinz who touched down under the sticks with five-eighth Tyler Bleyendaal kicking the extras once again.
A dominant Canterbury scrum drove the Bay of Plenty pack off their own ball as the ball came squirting out. Heinz picked up the scraps and stepped one defender to put Canterbury back in the contest – only being down by 12 points.
As Canterbury looked to be on the come back track prop Nepo Laulala gave away a penalty with hands in the ruck, giving Bay of Plenty’s Noakes the opportunity to kick them out to a 17-32 lead, leaving the Cantabrians with a mountain to climb.
However, Bleyendaal’s kick-off, a consequence from the penalty, set up Ryan Crotty’s try as Canterbury responded straight away with prop Joel Moody providing the deft off-load for Crotty to pace over.
As the seconds ticked by Canterbury wing Telusa Veainu crossed over in the corner at the 76minute mark after a Robbie Fruean bust to put the game in Canterbury’s reach at 31-32 to set up a grandstand finish.
But Canterbury continued to kick away possession in the final minutes which allowed Bay of Plenty to put the final nail in the coffin, as Willi Heinz was penalised for holding on, allowing Bay of Plenty to chew down precious minutes to take out the match.
Canterbury gained two bonus points in the match after scoring four tries and coming within seven points of Bay and Plenty putting them one point ahead of Waikato on the ladder.
The red-and-blacks look play Otago at the new Forsyth Barr Stadium this Saturday and will look to take out maximum points to book a place in the ITM Cup final for the fourth year in a row.
Canterbury – 31 (tries: Luke Ramano, Willi Heinz, Ryan Crotty, Telusa Veainu; Tyler Bleyendaal 4 conv, 1 pen)
Bay of Plenty – 35 (tries: Toby Arnold, Cloin Bourke; Chris Noakes 2 conv, 6 pen, 1 dropped goal)