Otago B finishes with narrow loss

Otago B ended its campaign with a tight 31-29 loss to Canterbury B at Logan Park on Saturday.

Otago got off to the perfect start with fullback Taylor Haugh dotting down after only two minutes, following a midfield bust by Josh Timu.

Canterbury got into the game with a well taken try after 18 minutes and the teams battled away for the balance of the half until Otago was awarded a penalty try after battling away at the Canterbury line.

Otago took a 12-7 lead into the break and it stayed at that score until 10 minutes into the second half when lock  Chucky Koroi was sinbinned for a deliberate knock down. The resulting three points closed the score to 12-10.

Canterbury then scored three tries from the 60 to 70-minute mark, two of which were long-range intercept tries and stretched the lead to 31-12 with 10 minutes left.

Otago fought back and Timu smashed through to score after a strong run. Five minutes later, flanker James Tomkinson was on the end of a great team try and it was 31-24 with three minutes left. Haugh used his speed to score his second right on fulltime to close it up to 31-29.

The home team had a bad day with the boot, kicking just one conversion all day.Otago finished its seven-game campaign with a four-win, three-loss record.

Otago under-19 finished its campaign with a close victory over Taranaki, winning 36-31 at the national tournament in Taupo.

These sides had met last year in the battle for third and fourth but this year played off for 13th and 14th.

Otago had failed to qualify for the top eight in the regional playoffs, finishing behind Tasman and Canterbury.

Auckland A won the tournament, defeating Waikato 30-17 in the final.

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