Otago - NPC News
	Win `a long time coming' By Brent Edwards Relief was the predominant emotion after Otago beat committed Counties-Manukau 22-13 in the national championship rugby match at Carisbrook on Saturday. And why not? It was, after all, eight games - ironically also against Counties, on September 11 last year - since Otago had been victorious in the NPC. There were no frills about this Otago win. It was about as cheerful as the chill, grey day and the sodden turf but it was, most importantly, a win. It was not until captain Kelvin Middleton smashed over from a line-out drive two minutes from the end that victory was secured. "It's been a long time coming," Otago coach Kevin Gloag said, "and we're relieved that it has. "It wasn't pretty. It became a battle up front and, in the end, we won it." But not without having to scrap tooth and nail against a Counties side which defended heroically and played well above its bottom-equal first division status. Otago dominated the first quarter for little reward, became too ambitious in the second quarter and trailed 6-10 at half-time. Counties' halfback and captain Danny Lee, excellent in all respects, scored after 24 minutes when flanker Haere Makiri burst clear and Lee expertly caught a long in-field pass from right wing Joeli Vidiri. Otago eventually scored its first try 11 minutes into the second spell, Taine Randell crashing over in the scoreboard corner when Otago drove on a John Blaikie line-out take before switching blind. But while that gave Otago the lead and broke what many thought would be the back of Counties' resistance, the Steelers showed themselves to be a side of character. Otago had a virtual mortgage on possession but Counties tackled heroically and, while Otago huffed and puffed, it could not break down the opposition defence. There was always the prospect of Counties breaking out for a decisive try before Otago nailed down the winning score, Middleton smashing over when the pack drove on a Simon Maling line-out take. "We knew at half-time we had to keep the ball up off the ground and use our forwards to drive," Gloag said. "They [Counties] were spreading out across the field and leaving the middle open." The most interesting aspect of the Otago backs was Pita Alatini's new hairstyle and Gloag acknowledged the backline was too ambitious in the first half "They were very rusty. We got nowhere in the last 20 minutes of the first spell when we tried to move the ball around. We got ourselves in trouble and started throwing wayward passes." But Gloag was pleased with the last quarter when Otago displayed some patience and eventually cracked the committed defence. "It will give the team a lot of confidence and it gets rid of that anxiety. The show's on the road, we've got our first win but there's plenty to work on." Randell was the outstanding Otago player, closely followed by Middleton, and the line-out - expertly fed by hooker Tom Willis - worked precisely with Blaikie, Simon Maling and Randell winning all their throws while prop Carl Hoeft showed some ginger in the tight. The backs were average, although the soggy conditions were a leveller, but Byron Kelleher and Tony Brown did not command the game as one might expect All Blacks to do. Counties' coach Andrew Talaimanu was straight to the point: "We're sick of being heroes and losing," he said. "Otago's tactics in the second half were simple, to drive through the middle. They couldn't get through us any other way." Counties missed two scoring chances, Selesi Moimoi receiving a forward pass from Loki Crichton when the field seemed clear, and Joeli Vidiri knocking on a long, floated pass from Crichton when Otago also seemed to have run out of defenders. "But you can't blame those chances," Talaimanu said. "Goldilocks shouldn't have fallen asleep in the three bears' house. "We're a young side and I thought ours was a pretty good effort considering we have only six professional players." Talaimanu reserved his judgement on Otago, but said it faced a battle to compete in the the top four. "Otago were a bit rusty and they need to tidy up a few things in their backs if they want to be there towards the finish. I think they played as well as they had to." The Counties loose trio of Koula Tukino, Glen Marsh and Makiri were excellent throughout; halfback Lee shaded Kelleher and there was some stoic defence from the entire Counties side. It was a first step by Otago, but it needs to take a lot more to rescue its season.

 
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