Canterbury drew 23-all with Hawke's Bay in their ITM Cup opener at AMI Stadium tonight.
The Red and Blacks, who were determined to win this match after losing their previous opening matches in 2008 and 2009, were unlucky not to take the victory.
The Bay kicked a penalty several minutes after the final hooter - the second penalty awarded to the visitors by referee Matthew Stannish after the 80 minutes were up.
Stannish was particuarly harsh on Canterbury at the breakdown, with captain George Whitelock and fellow flanker Matt Todd on the receiving end.
This uncertainty at the ruck led to a lot of kicking by both teams, as neither wanted to take the ball to the ground.
Canterbury began the match well, Ryan Crotty (pictured) slicing through a midfield gap off a set piece hinted of greater things to come.
The Bay began the scoring through a penalty by Daniel Kirkpatrick after four minutes but Canterbury responded with a marvellous try to Sean Maitland.
An Ash Parker lineout take was quickly used by halfback Willi Heinz and Colin Slade hit fullback Maitland with a great miss pass - the flying No15 doing the rest.
Two Kirkpatrick penalties gave the Bay back the lead at 7-9 but a Todd charge at the first-five resulted in a head knock and the accurate kicker had to go off.
Replacement Andrew Horrell quickly found his range though and the Bay were up 7-12 before Colin Slade narrowed it with a penalty of his own.
Magpies hooker Hika Elliott took advantage of some ordinary defending around the ruck as the Bay shunted it up through the forwards. His try was not converted.
Bay prop Clint Newland was sinbinned for a late charge on Stephen Brett and the home side looked to have taken full advantage but Steve Fualau's try from a rolling maul was not awarded by the TMO. A Slade penalty narrowed the gap to 13-17 at half time.
Canterbury began well after the break - winger Tu Umaga-Marshall, who had a solid all round game - charged down an attempted Jason Shoemark clearance to score a converted try to give his side back the lead.
Scrambling defence by Heinz on Zac Guildford, the Crusaders wing, kept the red and blacks in it before Horrell evened things up with another penalty.
Canterbury then took control of the territory and Umaga-Marshall went close but was brought down short of the line.
A Slade penalty gave his side the advantage 23-20 before Stannish's late intervention.
For Canterbury, flanker Whitelock was outstanding, with the front row of Wyatt Crockett, Fualau and Pete Borlase providing good grunt.
Todd also showed up.
In the backs, Slade found several holes in the defence and Crotty was missed after he went off with a foot injury at the end of the first half.
Wing Patrick Osborne also looked promising before he also had to leave the field with a hip injury.
Canterbury's next match is against Manawatu in Palmerston North on Thursday night.
Canterbury - Tries: Sean Maitland, Tu Umaga-Marshall. Pens: Colin Slade 3. Con: Slade.
Hawke's Bay - Try: Hika Elliott. Pens: Daniel Kirkpatrick 3, Andrew Horrell 3.
HT: 13-17
Goalkickers
Slade 3 from 4
Kirkpatrick 3 from 3
Horrell 3 from 4
Canterbury
1. Wyatt Crockett
2. Steve Fualau (Paul Ngauamo 65th)
3. Pete Borlase
4. Luke Romano (Rob Verbakel 54th)
5. Isaac Ross
6. Matt Todd
7. George Whitelock (c)
8. Ash Parker
9. Willi Heinz
10. Colin Slade
11. Patrick Osborne (Robbie Flynn 45th)
12. Stephen Brett
13. Ryan Crotty (Telusa Veainu 31st)
14. Tu Umaga-Marshall
15. Sean Maitland
Reserves not used:
17. Andrew Olorenshaw
19. Brendon O'Connor
20. Matt George