A late Ben Volavola penalty helped North Harbour overcome Waikato 13-11 in their Mitre 10 Cup clash at FMG Stadium on Sunday.
It looked like Waikato would take the four points that would see them leapfrog Auckland and off bottom spot of the Premiership standings. But a frantic finish led to Volavola stepping up to break Mooloo hearts and give Harbour the win.
This was North Harbour's seventh win from nine as they sit in third, four points off leaders Canterbury and Taranaki with a round to play.
Their try scorer was full-back Matt Duffie while for Waikato, fly-half Matty Lansdown contributed all their points, via a try and two penalties.
The scorers:
For Waikato:
Try: Lansdown
Pen: Lansdown 2
For North Harbour:
Try: Duffie
Con: Volavola
Pens: Gatland, Volavola
Waikato: 15 Tyler Campbell, 14 Bailyn Sullivan, 13 Pita Ahki, 12 Tevita Taufui, 11 Sevu Reece, 10 Matty Lansdown, 9 Harrison Levien, 8 Jordan Manihera, 7 Mitch Jacobson, 6 Luke Jacobson, 5 James Tucker (c), 4 Leva Fifita, 3 Atu Moli, 2 Samisoni Taukei'aho, 1 Ayden Johnstone
Replacements: 16 Sekope Lopeti, 17 Loni Uhila, 18 Sefo Kautai, 19 Sam Caird, 20 Adam Burn, 21 Pele Cowley, 22 Sam Christie, 23 Iliesa Ratuva Tavuyara
North Harbour: 15 Matt Duffie (cc), 14 Shaun Stevenson, 13 Matt Vaega, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Bryn Gatland, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Kuki Moala-Liava'a, 7 Murphy Taramai, 6 Glenn Preston, 5 Jarrad Hoeata, 4 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 3 Mike Tamoaieta, 2 James Parsons (cc), 1 Chris Eves
Replacements: 16 Steven Misa, 17 Adrian Smith, 18 Karl Tu'inukuafe, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 Connor Collett, 21 Chris Smylie, 22 Dan Hilton-Jones, 23 Ben Volavola
Referee: Shane McDermott
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