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A first win of the season fell devastatingly short of the One New Zealand Warriors when they lost 26-28 to Illawarra in their thrilling fourth-round SG Ball Cup (under-19) match at Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe on Sunday.
Denied in their first three outings, the Warriors came out strongly against the Steelers, giving the contest a hot start with a brilliant try from 60 metres out.
Backing up centre Compton Purcell made a long break before off loading for halfback Maui Winitana-Patelesio to finish for a 6-0 lead just three minutes in.
The Steelers countered wide on the right but then the Warriors found some real momentum..
They went wide to their right edge for winger Connor Bowden to score his fourth try of the season and added a third when prop Paea Sikuvea thundered through the heart of Illawarra’s defence to score between the posts.
Match: Warriors v Steelers
Round 4 -
home Team
Warriors
away Team
Steelers
Venue: Navigation Home Stadium, Pukekohe
They weren’t finished, making it three unanswered tries when standoff Noah Jensen bombed towards the right. It went loose, the Warriors swooped and went quickly to the right for Bowden to score his second - and fifth of the year - for a 20-6 lead.
Critically, though, two defensive slip-ups allowed Illawarra to score twice before halftime to leave the Warriors only 20-16 ahead at the break.
The home side held onto the advantage until another defensive lapse opened the way for the Steelers to go 22-20 ahead.
With nine minutes to go, the Warriors were back in front 26-20 when Jensen stood up the defence, cutting back and powering past defenders for a superb try.
Then with two minutes to go came the killer as the Steelers bombed from 40 metres out. At least one chaser was clearly in front of the kicker but it was missed by the officials, the kick was spilled and centre Charles Heidke snatched the loose ball to score near the posts. The conversion was a formality giving the Steelers victory and handing the Warriors an agonising defeat.
They’re back at Navigation Homes Stadium next Sunday for another Harold Matthews-SG Ball doubleheader when they take on the eighth-placed Melbourne Storm.
