Runaway win nets Otago playoff spot

Mitchell Karpik tries in vain to catch him during a Mitre 10 Cup match at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin last night. Photo: Linda Robertson
Mitchell Karpik tries in vain to catch him during a Mitre 10 Cup match at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin last night. Photo: Linda Robertson
Otago went out on the prowl last night and came away with five competition points and a place in the post season.

The home side beat Bay of Plenty 45-34 at Forsyth Barr Stadium in a Mitre 10 Cup match, winning the game thanks in a big way to three gifts from a misfiring Bay of Plenty side.

The intercept try can be seen as a piece of burglary, or just simply being in the right place at the right time, but it did not matter for Otago - collectively they were worth 21 points to the home team and it was not complaining.

The bonus point win gives the team a spot in the post season and it could still bag a home semifinal.

The game was close at the break, Bay of Plenty ahead 20-14 and Otago having a man in the bin on halftime.

But Otago was the stronger in the second half - as it has been for most of the season - and ran away from the visiting team.

First centre Matt Faddes swallowed a loose pass on his own 22m line and sprinted 70m to score.

Then, two minutes later, when Bay of Plenty swung back on to attack, it was not accurate enough with its pass from the breakdown. The ball ended up in the hands of first five-eighth Josh Ioane and he sprinted 80m to score.

Otago kept pressing and scored a beautiful try, finished off by Faddes, on the hour mark.

Fullback Vilimoni Koroi found the gap on the outside and good support inside him sent Faddes over.

That try broke the back of Bay of Plenty and when a loose pass out wide was snapped up by Koroi he skipped away 80m to score.

Otago deserved the win, as it was more cut throat when it mattered and showed more enterprise with the ball.

It needs to look at its discipline, however, with both Sione Misiloi and Sio Tomkinson yellow carded.

The first half was a sloppy affair with errors affecting both teams.

Otago lost the ball when it tried to run the ball out from the kick-off, opening up the opportunity for the visitor.

It pressed hard and Otago eventually ran out of numbers as right winger Bailey Simonsson crossed out wide.

But any advantage the Bay of Plenty side got from the early score it immediately gave up as it coughed the ball up from the first breakdown from the kick-off.

Otago camped on the tryline for the next 10 minutes before the dam eventually broke and Ioane slid through a gap to score. He added the simple conversion.

The teams traded points throughout the first 40 minutes. But Bay of Plenty got a crucial penalty try after Otago collapsed a mall right on halftime and Misiloi was yellow carded for his efforts.

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