Counties Manukau dump Manawatu Turbos in second round of ITM Cup - Rugby News
Counties Manukau battled past the Manawatu side in the second round of the ongoing ITM Cup 2011, in Pukekohe, on July 20 to win by 32-25 as the Turbos failed to maintain their first-half momentum.
The Turbos had done well in the first-half and ended their score with 18-19 just behind Manukau. However there was no comeback and the Manukau team scored two tries in the match to secure the first victory of the event. James Semple elevated his side with
22 points as he kicked six successful penalties and two conversions shots through the Manawatu Turbos goals.
The Turbos had chased the Manukau side well despite their rusty defence. They let the Mankau’s side score on a few easy occasions and committed a number of fouls while tackling in the defence. The Turbos crossed the try line three times with the ball in
the match. The Turbos’ player took an early lead with the help of Michael Fitzgerald who scored the first try of the match. Aaron Cruden did not spare the opportunity to kick the conversion shot in Manukau’s goals.
James Semple rose to the occasion and scored three points for his side in the 20th minute of the game. He reduced the Turbos lead to 3-7 and they missed an easy chance to score a try soon after his penalty kick. Sherwin Stowers availed the next
opportunity for his side and made it 8-7 for Manukau and Semple kicked a well directed conversion in the next minute.
The Manukau dominated the Turbos for the rest of the match as Semple scored two more three pointers before the interval. The Counties Manukau ended up the first part of game with a slight difference of 19-18.
The Counties worked nicely on their defence in the whole match, unlike the Manawatu side, and kept their opponents away from the scoring line. Manawatu were left with 14 men in the field when Lee-Lo was shown a yellow card in the second-half. The Counties
Manukau managed to score 32 points and Manawatu 25 until the final whistle. The last 20 minutes of the game did not see any remarkable activity and both sides were unable to enhance their total.
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