In as thrilling a game as you could imagine, the Wakatipu Premiers only once hit the lead against Alexandra on Saturday.
But that was in the 85th minute when Rube Peina coolly kicked a conversion to seal a 31-29 win at Alexandra’s Molyneux Park after No 8 Anton Huisman dotted down to even the scores.
That came after a scarcely believable few minutes where Alexandra blew a lineout and conceded scrum and offside penalties.
Alexandra’s only loss all season had also been against Wakatipu in Queenstown back in March, where Wakatipu also scored 31 points but Alex only scored three.
On Saturday, Alexandra were already 12-0 up after only four minutes.
Former Fiji under-20 player Sam Chapman charged down a laboured kick by Wakatipu first five Logan Beggs to score first, then set up a try for prop Kurt Beeton.
Wakatipu replied with two good team tries — the first to Beggs after a high kick and the next to fast finishing lock Toby Higgins, who scored his first try in 51 games after a break by prop Will Burdon.
Wakatipu had drawn level 12-12, but two minutes later Alex right winger Jake Denniston scored out wide and Chapman scored again to give them a 24-12 lead at halftime.
Eleven minutes into the second half, Alexandra lock Joshua Scobie scored to give his side an apparently unassailable 29-12 lead.
But Wakatipu then conjured up three good tries — to substitute loosie Bradley Cross, speedy fullback Conner Hamtin, then that thriller to Huisman — to pull off a remarkable heist.
Alexandra coach Lee Wilson said Wakatipu’s bench made a "quite noticeable" impact.
"At the end of the day it just came down to probably a few decisions we didn’t get quite right, and they took advantage of it," Wilson said.
"I cannot fault our team for the effort, just today it was Wakatipu’s day."
He said his captain Tyler Ford, in his 50th game in green, was "outstanding" while reserve lock Robbie Bell came on for his 100th game and Chapman was their player of the day.
Wakatipu coach Jordan Manihera agreed it was "a great game".
He said his side had benefited from an extra week of prep, following a bye, and at halftime had "just identified where we needed to put the batt into space".
He said his team’s player of the day, Huisman, was "exceptional".
Cross had come on "and added his experience and impact for the last half hour and Joseff Morse, on debut, stood out pretty well."
Cromwell rebounded from a 40-12 hammering from Maniototo in the first round to do everything but defeat the Maggots at Ranfurly, losing 10-14 after spending most of the second half camped in their territory.
Ben Maxwell’s two conversions made the difference plus some incredibly gritty defence against a frustrated opponent that could not finish anything off.
Meanwhile, Arrowtown fought back valiantly against competition frontrunners Upper Clutha at Jack Reid Park, coming from nil-17 down at halftime to lose 12-17.
Two of Upper Clutha’s three tries went to winger Ulysse Martineau, giving him six from his last four outings.
The Central Otago competition will resume on June 7 with the focus next weekend on the Topp Cup Country Day at Alexandra. — Additional reporting Bob Howitt
