A last minute Murray Williams penalty saw the Mid Canterbury team pull off a major upset in Oamaru today, beating ITM Cup side Southland 40-38.
The pre-season match between Heartland Championship side Mid Canterbury and the heavily favoured Southland went down to the wire after an incredible second half fight-back by the Hammers.
Down 5-24 mid-way through the first half, Mid Canterbury went to the break down only 17-24 and drew level shortly after the restart.
From there they went out to a 34-24 before a couple of chargedown tries - including one to Mid Canterbury-born-and-raised Mark Jackman on his Southland debut under the posts - saw Southland grab the lead back at 34-38.
Williams landed a penalty with eight minutes to play to be down 38-37 and then with time almost up, he landed another penalty from right in front which secured the Hammers a rare win over a top division team.
- Jonathan Leask of the Ashburton Guardian
